[Applause]
[Music]
this man Ibrahim please be with you
Salaam alaikum tune in to the Dijon and
guess what I have in the studio Sheikh
face oh hi mother how are you fine thank
you Salam alayka go
greetings a piece yeah how you been so
far so good
masha'Allah what's new with you not much
except I'm here for the people that
don't know a little bit much about you
you've been touring here in the United
States giving talks and educating people
on Islam louder than not yet Muslims who
are out there for over 40 years is that
right yes huh you know tell us a little
about your journey and your experiences
now since when you it's been over at Wow
40 years well it's it's been almost 50
years 50 50 came from Egypt mm-hmm and I
landed in Wichita Kansas I was doing my
PhD in aerospace engineering and then I
moved to Chicago in 72 and since I've
been in Chicago I've been involved with
the community and a lot with the youth
you guys were praying do you mind
closets back then huh as a matter of
fact we used to work downtown Chicago
back in the 70s 70s
yeah and we will play Juma and the
staircase in the staircase yeah then he
moved up to the closets and then we
moved to the closet and I was promoted
to a supervisor and company called floor
downtown Chicago then I was able to
reserve a conference room yeah and then
later on we were able to rent a place as
a community downtown Chicago and in the
meantime they bought a place on Kizzy
way back when in the early 70s that was
MCC yeah before that we used to pray
either if we want to pray Juma or a heat
we have to go to Indiana yeah that's
what it's night headquarters was at that
time so you're the generation of you
know dr. Jamar buddy we you know dr.
Ahmed soccer yes this is late this is
you
generation you know that's new them well
yeah as a matter of fact I'm a sucker
his kids are my kids grow up here in
Chicago together and I just saw his wife
and and his son-in-law Cyrus I was
attending the Southern California
Islamic Council and they were honoring
dr. Ahmed Sakura
so his wife and his son were there and
in the annual banquet that they have in
Los Angeles area
you got to visit my uncle dr. Hashim
Kosovich he was the one who gave me his
book life death and Hereafter and this
was a turning point in my life he gave
me his life his um his book this book
after I went to visit him my uncle at
his clinic he's to patch me up
hamdulillah and you just work on me too
chiropractor and I told him that I heard
a story about death it really scared me
and then he wanted his back office and
he grabbed the book and then he gave me
the book I read the book and I said this
was really you know an amazing read and
it just from there it was a catalyst
that I took off and I started to read
before and and he took off and here we
are today so yeah so he really
contributed you know my growth my growth
of hamdullah but now you actually you've
known my uncle you actually went to
visit him he's we talked about that a
little bit in the hospital huh yeah yeah
he's suffering from stomach cancer may
Allah subhanAllah like give him complete
and speedy recovery I mean but he was a
good spirit and and we talked about many
things yesterday and all days and
because I have known him since
practically a little bit after 7475 yeah
and I was one of his patients at one
time
did you see you also you were also one
of his patients yes did you see this
much cancer back when you first got here
and not really no but but you know
cancer is one of those what he calls
neeki diseases most people don't know
about it till it's too late yeah
and we hope and pray that he will be
recovered and I mean they will take care
of him without any bad side effects I
mean it just reminds us it reminds us
the reality of this of this dunya of
this life right that at any time we
could be called back absolutely and this
is one of the blessed months ramadan
that we're in now that we have that
opportunity and we can take off and talk
from here and obviously islam is based
on the five pillars one for the people
tuning in for the first time to testify
that there's nothing worthy of worship
except the one who created you the one
who made you alright not nothing in
creation but the one who jesus prayed to
moses abraham the last and final mustard
problem how many peace and blessings be
upon him the one God Allah and Muhammad
is the last and final messenger this was
automatically include not exclude all
the preceding messengers and then you
have the prayer five times a day
Ramadan yes how do you feel now every
day I mean this is a blessing there we
reached it again what well when you talk
about Ramadan and just I was talking
yesterday to your uncle and it's another
cancer patient believe it or not Ramadan
God has given us a way of life that we
can build an ideal Society and it's
based on love justice and morality and
one of the things that God knows better
than us is our body how he created that
body and what makes that body flourish
and nourish and what makes it otherwise
one of the things that God Almighty have
asked us to do is to fast once per year
for a month and the fasting is to
abstain from eating or drinking or
having any relation with your spouse's
from practically a little bit before
sunrise till sunset which makes it about
on the average like 14 to 15 hours a day
that was prescribed on us Muslims 1,400
years plus now medical researches shows
that to do this exact fasting once in a
year
is good for your health because it
really ready your system from all
tactics not only that the fan on that
cancerous cells are starved and you can
really practically combat cancer by
fasting which is striving the body from
food and liquids for ten to twelve or
fourteen hours a day for a period of
month so not only that it makes you feel
also the pain of those who do not have
it that they don't have enough to eat
not only in Ramadan but during the year
if you look around the world now you
find out there is a lot of refugees and
a lot of orphans and a lot of widows
that they hardly have even anything to
eat in on a daily basis and some of them
even go and look for food in the garbage
cans
so that makes one feel the hunger of
others so we'll bring us humanity
together and make us feel for each other
and so it is it is a win-win situation
you please the Lord by obeying you take
care of your body which is health and
take care of your fellow human being so
in case you are in the same spot
somebody else will take care of you
mm-hmm that's amazing so when you look
back we not only reap the physical
benefits but mainly the spiritual
benefits and then when you put it back
you go back and you look at the
chronological order how Allah has mercy
transcendent to time and his guidance
came to us if we take a look at the for
instance Abraham peace and blessings be
upon him he wasn't a Jew or Christian he
was one who submitted his will to the
Creator yes he was a pure monotheists he
worshiped the Creator our law and they
also did these rituals fasting today
right and then moving along to Moses and
Jesus peace be upon him well obviously
you can't be a Muslim unless you believe
and love them as the the greatest men
messengers that came with that same
message they also did this yes so you
also now get
to connect with the best human beings
that ever walked the earth doing the
same thing that they did absolutely and
let me tell you something happened one
time few years ago I was invited to high
school yeah to talk about Islam and the
ask me about fasting
so I told because those are teenagers
and the prime time of their life so I
told him about the narration of Prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him when a youth
came to him and he said he have the
desire to for the other gender but he
can't get married so he told him fast
because fasting will curb this desire
that is aria so I told the kids that
they had tried try to fasts and you will
see what it is and a week later I get a
call from somebody said it works and it
really is so it's it has a lot of
benefits and we are just a creatures of
God and he knows about us more than
anybody else and he tells us what is
good and what is bad for us you've seen
a lot of people enter Islam
I mean Guinness Book of World Records
they said Islam is the fastest growing
way of life in the world and it
continues to grow it entices you know
the intellectual you know to ponder and
reflect and the simple man the the
academic I've interviewed so many people
from all walks of life
he hasn't went if they've been genuine
and sincere there's an ingredient you
got to be genuine sincere you got to be
seeking to want to know the truth and
once they've opened up the Quran once
they've investigated Prophet Muhammad's
life they've seen that hold on this is
from the Creator there's no other book
like it tambour for you to have proof
but now with some people okay
they say when it comes down some people
come to a crossroads they like okay
there's a lot required for me right I
got to change my life now some people
worship food some people worship money
some things like okay they can give up
this and that but now the prayer and the
fasting and someone is overwhelmed and
they're like and when you've seen people
coming to Islam and now that might be
like the easy part you know to testify
you know who your Creator is and now to
to submit your will it's a child
it's everyday struggle so someone says
to you I'm sure you've heard it how can
I do this
you know how can I give up food and
drink something I love so much all day
what do you tell them what you see here
is God doesn't want us to have an abrupt
change in our life and there is a case
which is recorded in the Quran about
alcohol
God knows that addiction is not an easy
thing to get rid of it one of a sudden
so first he said if you are under the
influence of alcohol and you don't know
what you're saying then stay till you
get sober before you start praying so
that was the first step as when you pray
make sure you're sober
why because you can be praying and
asking God to hurt you because you don't
know what you're talking about
and then the next step God will say yes
I know there is something good in liquor
but also there is something bad in it
yes you are saying I feel good about it
but you later on feel bad about yourself
when you're drunk and make an idiot out
of yourself and then the last step was
isn't time for you to quit and that's
why it is the best way is to take people
step by step first you acknowledge God
is there and when you acknowledge God is
there he is the most merciful and the
most forgiving and then you ask him for
help and that he said I will help you if
you ask for help so the help is there
all I have to do is just take the first
step and God will take us by hand and
and walk us through it and then I'll do
my best
yes I'm Lee I'm gonna fail sometimes
that's why I'm gonna ask God to forgive
me he's the most forgiving yeah so it is
it is hard for people to to do it but
let me tell you because for example for
women for most women hardest thing is to
cover the rear
but here's what happened a story that
happened not far away from here yeah
please tell us I don't know if you know
I was yet brother Abu Zeid in MCC he and
his wife they take care of the weekend
at Muslim community center of Chicago
and Elston so every week they go to
Costco to buy snacks for the kids so one
day they came home and he found that
they have a lot of stuff that they
didn't feel that they paid that much for
it they look at the receipt the fan out
yeah there is a lot of stuff they didn't
pay for it so they go back to the
underpaid underpaid they got more they
get more okay so you go back to Costco
and not to embarrass that cashier they
start looking for her
the one that she served them and took
her on the side and tried to explain to
her of course I was yet from Palestine
originally have an accent like myself
and his wife wearing a big long dress
and covering her hair and of course
nobody comes back and giving money to
classic oh that's like unheard of
unheard oh so it took them some time to
understand what he's talking about
then they took them to the manager and
the measure said what kind of people are
you
they said we'll just regular Muslim
people to make a long story short that
cashier I saw her at MCC praying Juma
wearing a full t AB and a long dress
mm-hmm because of this because of this
experience so and and that's practically
how Muslims around the world accepted
Islam accepted Islam because of the
character and the behavior and the
morals and the ethics of the Muslims
that detailed whether yes the integrity
now that she said and the integrity of
this and everybody likes honest people
dependable people nice people cheerful
people and and that's what Islam is all
about mm-hmm I heard a similar story
where a Sheikh he was riding the bus and
Imam and it was a man the bus driver he
had been investigating Islam so he said
now okay I'm gonna he saw this person
who is a Muslim obviously and he said
I'm gonna he's the
if he should become Muslim or what not
and he just he wanted to put this Imam
to the test so he gave him you know some
extra change like when the person gave
for the bus driver and then he ended up
giving him some more as the story goes
and the Sheikh sits back and he looks
back and he says same thing here he's
looking and he's like kind of
embarrassed he gave me should I go give
it back he said he's thinking to himself
what am I gonna sell my Dean for a few
you know extra coins so this is what
usually people will do they would end up
just pocketing the money it's no big
deal
Costco they gave him some extra they
would end up you know fill in their
fridge well I'm not gonna go ahead and
out of my way but that's what it is when
we say tuck wha yes when
god-consciousness you know that God sees
everything doesn't matter if the cameras
are there or not no yeah so he gave the
bus driver back the money and as the
story goes he ended up from there was a
catalyst for him to see Islam in action
so that's really important seeing Islam
in action through our behavior as a
matter of fact a friend of Mines wife
who they live in California in Los
Angeles area
she went to TG max yeah and bought
something and when she got home she
found that the bag that she bought from
TJ Max has a bag from Macy's with things
in it yeah and she said okay and and she
doesn't drive so she has to take the bus
bags so the next day she goes to she
said instead of going to TG max I'm
gonna go straight to mrs. and they have
the tag they will find out who paid for
it yeah luckily whoever bought those
stuff the bothered would credit card so
they have record and the guys were were
stunned what'd you bring she said well
it's my duty I it's not my stuff and
then and I doesn't belong to me and so
what happened is everybody in the store
clap for her and they call her a hero
yeah and then after she left she went
looking around and in the store and she
stopped by a jacket and she and the
manager of the store came to her said
you like this she said yeah he said okay
this is going to be our
gift mm-hmm she said no I cannot fold it
and I I'm not gonna take it so finally
at the end of the day they made a credit
card for her and they told her we're
gonna give you a discount on it and when
you get the bill there will be another
discount and the guy said what are you
from she said I am from from Egypt I'm
Muslim you know he said well are all
people like you this way I see that I
hope what they are supposed to be
supposed to be practicing Islam yeah and
he said not around here have you seen
with all your experience now being here
for almost 50 years
the intensified Islamophobia that we're
seeing now how do you contrast it to
back then well let me give you an
example that happened to me 50 years ago
yes I used to know a friend I was
originally from Tennessee so one day I
went to his house and his father was
there that was young John Smith and his
father was have few drinks and he looked
at me and said are you are you I said no
sir he said what the hell are you then
he's talking I said I'm a Muslim he said
oh they are the same damn thing so and
and I left that was in Wichita Kansas
there wasn't that many Muslims there
that there wasn't that many Muslims
known in the United States so people
really didn't have this Islamophobia at
that time 50 years ago it wasn't like it
wasn't no it wasn't like now and you
could feel it now yourself here you're
out there you're you can feel both you
can feel the intensity of Islamophobia
and also you can feel the intensity of
sympathy yes from because you know you
won't believe it the u.s. American
people by far are loving people
and easy to communicate with and easy to
get to do business with but what
happened is when you have a media that
bombard you day in and day out let's
take for example the word Sharia yes the
word Sharia has been used as an as an
evil word
well nobody knows that Sharia means
legislation yeah and we call the
Congress people the Congress members
legislators what if we call them Cheri
Cheri honest yeah are they going to be
they all know it's the word the Arabic
word for legislation God have legislated
for us and told us to do this this and
that and we have to obey what God knows
best
yeah Muslim always associated with
terror now you have seen how in in in
Florida they kill how many people didn't
ever call them terrorists no recently
you've had a lot of these I mean this is
something as a growing you know trend
now that you have these mass shootings
there and you and they never call them
terrorists no they don't very even talk
about the religion no and when you look
at really look at look at the wars that
has been done just First World War and
Second World War and all the world that
the United States have started yeah for
no reason around the world and how many
forget about the Muslim that they got
killed
look at the Americans they get killed
for these wars yeah but did anybody call
Bush the son the terrorist I think
people are starting to see this
hypocrisy had that van attack now the
Armenian guy he's Christian yeah we
don't blame Christianity you know he
killed over it was like 10 people that
was in Toronto you know about that yeah
the Waffle House shooting he also he's
he was from the sovereign state
he's also Christian we don't see them
blaming Christianity we don't blame
Christianity no you had the guy in a Las
Vegas shooting it was a deadliest oh yes
history shooting in America he killed
like what was like 60 people versus it
it's it's Aboriginal yeah and forget
about those little ones World War one
and World War two there were millions
killed and Americans hundreds of
thousands of American
died for no reason whatsoever we have
nothing to do with the World War one or
two or anything nothing to do with Islam
and and has nothing to do with Islam now
how many people got killed in Iraq by
the US troops what was that what's the
numbers they're over a million over a
million arey innocent people and not
only that you get the Secretary of State
Albright she was saying it was worth it
when he told that you killed over
500,000 kids and later we found out
there was no reason whatsoever it all
was a lie it was based on a lie yeah but
so but again it's it's it's we have to
do our our job to to show them the what
Islam is all about yeah do you I mean
that's interesting when you mention
Sharia and when you remind people some
of these terms that are in Arabic it's a
Semitic language Aramaic the language
Jesus spoke there is also symmetric is
Aramaic Arabic similar same almost
Hebrew when you look in the Bible Sharia
is mention over 250 times in the Arabic
Bible isn't yeah I'm you speaker an
arabic speaking person yeah this is the
word Sharia is in the Bible
shara shara it the the the the members
of the country who make legislations are
musha rain yeah and the legislation that
they make is called Sharia in Arabic but
they scare people they do these scare
tactics you know they take things that
you know people are so ignorant about
out of context you know misinformation
they twist a lot and then they feed the
people and they scare the people with
deliberate attempts I mean that's it
that's the yeah that's what is it as a
matter of fact some recently they had
some statistics about what country
applied Sharia
yeah and believe it or not the top
countries were not Muslim countries
which ones were they New Zealand was for
example one of the top countries that
the Scandinavians because what is Sharia
is applying principles which good for
people yeah love justice freedom of
speech security that's all sure that's
all
technically should yes this is
technically Sharia but then they focus
on the Penal Code which is not even like
1% and and as a matter of fact as a
matter of fact what happened back in
1970 1970 I is left living in Wichita
Kansas yeah my neighbor was from Saudi
Arabia and what happened late became
late one night and the lady had a baby
so she was carrying her baby so she put
her purse at the doorstep and she opened
the door and she got in and forgot her
purse outside yeah their neighbor left
early in the morning so when he saw the
purse he took it inside til they wake up
and give it to them they woke up and
they didn't find worth the purses and it
has all her jewelry and what have you so
they called the police
by the time the police came and what
heavy the neighbor woke up and they gave
her the the the person that was nineteen
seventy so the policeman said where are
you from they said from Saudi Arabia
said what did he do there for the
thieves he said if he doesn't need to
steal and he is healthy and can work
then they chop his hands off amputation
yeah he said well you know that's a good
idea but how's the cop is saying the cop
was saying that he said but if you do
that here you'll find a lot of people
walking with no arms but even that was
an even act if you look at Islamic
history that was very something very
very funny because you know why it's a
strong deterrent it's it's it's it's
like an Omer which is like twenty years
later after the death of the Prophet SAW
Selim workers working for somebody and
he wouldn't pay them right away so the
stone a sheep from him because they were
hungry so he brought them to justice
and then when Omar heard this reason he
said well you go back and if you do that
to them again I'm gonna chop your hands
not their hands mm-hmm because it's
based on justice if somebody's hungry
it is the community responsibility to
make sure that they are no wonder
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said
is not one of us who sleeps with a full
belly and his neighbor is hungry can you
imagine if we do that anywhere yeah
there will be no hatred people will be
encouraged to work people don't worry
about what happens and then it's just
all win-win situation you know I usually
ask people this since you brought this
point up like what would you do and what
would you do if someone did a house
invasion on you like that means they
intruded into your private space your
home they invaded your home they put
your family at risk and you had work ten
twenty thirty years I give it a paint a
picture to save up your money right and
you had a great stash now somewhere so
someone plotted put your family in
danger stole that money that you had for
your kids college education and you
caught them and you be surprised that
the kind of answers you get people are
talk about chopping them up killing them
all sorts of torture I say slum is more
merciful at all that yeah so people you
know it's a lot of hypocrisy you know
when you bring things to fruition and
you put things in context and many
people because of their ignorance they
don't know and people highlight the
penal code of Islam but when people look
at it you know I can talk about the
justice in Islam there's God wouldn't do
injustice to anyone right so he wouldn't
have an just system but people we
motivate people to kind of look deeper
into they usually don't attack the the
beauty of Islam they forget about these
other these everything's beautiful Islam
but the theology you know worshipping
the Creator not the creation which you
talked about eradicating poverty you
know kindness to your neighbor seems
like many at Islam before they skip all
this you know this other stuff you know
as a matter of fact there is a lot of
circular minded Muslims yeah that they
are also so brainwashed with this media
to the point that they hate anything
that Islamic of Sharia yeah but maybe
six years ago I was visiting Cairo yes
I get together with some of my high
school hmm colleagues and at that time
there was the Muslim brothers hood
movement was I have a candidate for
presidency yeah so one of my colleagues
who was totally secular he said oh man
we got to go back to chopping the head
and killing the killer and this and that
so I said okay what happened if somebody
steal from you
you know what his answer was I'm gonna
kill us that's what I mean
it's the hypocrisy it is total hypocrisy
yeah and that's why I told him guess
what you cannot steal more than little
things from anybody in the community but
can you imagine if the community decided
to steal from you they will take
everything that you got I will take even
the hair of your hair so God is saying
I'm gonna protect you yeah if you steal
from somebody and you have no need to
steal and you are healthy and you can
work and society have provided you a
chance to work and if you go to the
society and they will provide for you
and you steal then I have to cut I warn
you first and I'm going to war in a
second time and I'm gonna warn you the
first time very hard to prosecute this
and after that if you do it again blame
nobody but yourself saves the taxpayers
a lot of money at the end where your
housing someone for you know how many 10
15 years how much 70 80 90 hundred
thousand dollars it's almost your
breaking up a family also you know now
your that's it just gets deeper into
profound wisdom first the strong strong
deterrent right so it deters people from
ever doing stuff like this even before
that you're making sure that you're
striving to eradicate the poverty so
people don't have to go ahead and you
know do these crimes but then when you
look at now they've asked some of these
prisoners if they can you know to have
their hand amputated or stay where they
are because this is a torture in these
prisons you know to be locked up you
know away from society
tea away from your family they say take
go ahead take it off as a matter of fact
many people go in innocent and they come
out criminals yeah so they go through
the hard knocks of you know schooling of
becoming a graduate criminal now PhD you
got your PhD they get their PhD in
criminality a better thug criminal right
so just a few more points before we wrap
up we talked about let's just let's just
go over these blessings again and the
benefits we talked about and we'll wrap
it up Ramadan it's one of the pillars of
Islam Islam meaning submitting your will
to the Creator that happens in earth
when you acknowledge that you have a
Creator who created you you want to
strive and you want to do your best to
submit to him please him he's given
these injunctions these these things a
blueprint on life and prayers one of
those fasting now we're in it and you
talked about let's wrap up with those
benefits to motivate people to really
get through this month of Ramadan you
know and benefit from it what else can
you tell us - you know motivate people
to be in here with their heart - what
everything here is another thing when
God tells us about Ramadan in particular
he said Ramadan is the month where the
Quran has been revealed and that Quran
came to guidance to mankind all mankind
all mankind and that Quran is available
24/7 12 months a year
so people shouldn't wait till ramadan
comes to recite quran people shouldn't
wait to know what's in the Quran tell
Ramakant comes I'm talking about Muslims
in particular yes and it is the Quran
who glorified Ramadan rather than
Ramadan who glorified the Quran God
didn't say Ramadan is the is the month
where made the Quran o is the month
where the Quran was revealed to be
guidance to mankind and to show them
there were the light from darkness and
and this is I call it like a booster
shot
Ramadan comes as a booster shot yes I
may be praying all year long but not the
proper way not up to standards not on
time so God is saying okay now I'm gonna
give you a month to rebuild yourself and
recharge your batteries like a spiritual
book camera
yeah as it is a spiritual physical
bootcamp yeah and as I mentioned to you
many doctors say if you do that you'll
be healthy for the rest of your life Wow
and you don't have to be Muslim no
wonder God is saying that Mohammed came
to bring you wisdom and purity and will
make it work and people will do it even
they don't want to be Muslims we have a
lot of that going on here and if you
look at the United States Constitution
you find it is as close to Sharia then
any Muslim countries Constitution we
talked about that Mohammed being one of
the greatest day honored prophet
Mohammed as being one of the greatest
legislators yes we talked about that
last time we met yeah so it's it's look
at it what is good for Humanity and I
will grab it and that's why people by
nature are born Muslims mm-hmm
are born to worship God that's right
because they were created by God and we
have in the Koran says God is the one
who have created you and me do you know
what is good and what is bad successful
is the one who harnessed the goodness
and a loser is the one who harnessed the
evil beautiful thank you so much it's
good seeing you again Jesus okay it's a
pleasure meeting you all thank you very
much exactly likewise and thank you guys
for tuning in to the Deen show every
week we're here as we said I mean that
first step is the crucial step that you
acknowledge that look life is something
that at any time it could be taken away
and you have to realize do I have a
purpose or on purpose less well ahhmm
tells you you have a purpose and that
purpose is to worship your Creator not
the creation God Almighty he sent out of
his love guidance for all of humanity
and we have it in the Quran and this
blessed month of the Ramadan is a
spiritual boot camp you want to practice
it why not take the first step and
testify what's in your very nature that
there's nothing where they worship
except the Creator the heavens an earth
earth and in every dismiss it simply
means Allah and Muhammad is the last and
final messenger sent to mankind this
would automatically include not exclude
Jesus is a messenger Moses Abraham they
all came with the same message Islam
submit your will to the creditor heavens
and earth and if you want to know more
call us