in the name of Allah the beneficent the
most
merciful I greet you with Islamic
greeting and welcome you to our program
contemporary issues in which we continue
to look at certain uh Islamic issues
which have come under the spotlight of
world attention where some practices
some beliefs you know are questioned by
Western
Civilization uh threat uh really
pointing out that these things are
irrelevant not uh logical or they you
know go against modern thinking etc
etc and unfortunately some Muslims have
have IGN in in ignorance fallen into
these traps and have become uh deluded
uh by the arguments which have been
presented so we tried to look at some of
the issues and try to understand them uh
some of the issues are issues where both
Muslims and non-muslims alike really
don't understand why why does Islam take
a position on this or that and we hope
to try to clarify these issues in our
program in this segment um we're looking
at we or we will be looking at the issue
of music from the the Islamic
perspective music which uh most people
are aware that you know there is
something in Islam regarding music you
know uh to some degree it appears that
it is prohibited outright or or some
people feel that they you know Muslims
are okay music in fact musicians are
okay it's quite popular among Muslims
and in fact even the guitar in Spain was
developed by Muslims when they were in
Spain now the actual issue involved here
concerning music is that God has created
human beings with a nature which loves
music we can see it with a mother
singing for her
child something like this of course
Islam is not going to prohibit something
which is part of the very nature of
human beings to prohibit it just for the
sake of
prohibition so in fact Islam does not
prohibit music
outright but it prohibits the harmful
aspects of
it music is is accepted within a
particular framework but outside that
framework it has been forbidden the
prophet s wasallam prohibited the use of
wind and stringed musical instruments in
a very famous Hadith in which he said
there will be people of my nation who
will legalize
fornication the wearing of silk for men
the drinking of wine and the use of
musical
instruments this is a Hadith which is
recorded by Imam Al bukari it is very
authentic Hadith furthermore he said
that some people from my nation will
drink wine calling it by another name
mert will be made for them by the
playing of musical instruments and the
singing of adult female singers this is
also an authentic Hadith which indicates
the prohibition of the use of musical
instruments in general as well as that
of adult female
singers now folk songs which which
are sung by females who are non not
adults uh this is to a mixed audience
for example and or by males you know
accompanied by the Duff which is like a
small hand drum this is something which
has been made permissible the prophet s
wasallam encouraged its use in weddings
and
festivals and in terms of the recitation
of the Quran it is it is encouraged to
be in a melodious voice Prophet wasam
said whoever doesn't sing the Quran is
not of us so there this element of of
music is accepted within the Muslim
Society but that it's kept within the
bounds of certain festivals festivities
the recitation of the Quran Etc you know
and it's not it doesn't become like an
an obsession it's the intent is that
ites should not become an obsession in
the society because these instruments
Etc they have a tendency to Captivate
the
heart they Captivate the heart in such a
way that it becomes the means that
people will find Solace when they're
down they turn on the music you know and
you know this is where instead of
turning to God instead of reflecting on
God they get their solace in music
becomes a substitute and they become
attached to it in such a way that you
know uh you know it becomes like an
addiction and when we look at the
element that produces music in the
society you because some people argue
but you know it helps me to study some
students will tell me you know that I I
study better when I listen to music you
know and you know others have a variety
of different explanations
the point is that if music were
beneficial then the musicians would
demonstrate that benefit in their
lives well what you see instead is that
corruption some of the most corrupt
elements of society are found amongst
the
musicians the
drugs the deviations and homosexuality
people these type of things and you know
all the corruption that's there people
committing suicide and all this kind of
thing concentrated in the area of the
musicians why if this thing that they're
producing is so good then why don't they
benefit from it reality is that it in
fact does carry an evil and a dark side
which produces that type of corruption
amongst themselves and in the end ends
up you know corrupting elements of the
society you know if you listen to the
the songs that are out there I mean
they're promoting promiscuity and
adultery and sin and it is loaded in the
songs you know unfortunately this is a
very corruptive element in the
society the other area of the Arts and
the you know is that of art
itself where Islam like Judaism uh
prohibited the use of pictorial
representation of living beings Islam
prohibits it it's in the Mosaic law and
it's part of the tradition of the
Prophet Sall wasallam the prophets
maintained you know although in reality
one may have find find you know examples
of image making you know in the in in
later Muslim states that developed
whether it is in Spain or Mogul India or
safid pers Persia or the ataman Empire
the reality is that this was something
quite severely prohibited according to
Islamic law Prophet Muhammad wasallam
had said those receiving the most severe
punishment on the day of judgment are
the image
makers and from the explanations given
to us by the prophet may God's peace and
bless be upon Him idolatry began amongst
the descendants of Adam through the
making of
images the prophet s wasallam had said
that
uh in the time of prophet n
there were some righteous individuals
who when they died Satan came to the
people and suggested to them to make
statues and name these statues after
them to remind them of the goodness of
these people and the people did so and
they placed these statues in the places
where they used to gather you know and
um in that generation the people
whenever they saw the statues it
reminded them of the good of those
people and it encourage them to do good
however when that generation died out
Satan came to later generation
and suggested to them that in fact their
ancestors their their grandparents Etc
were in fact worshiping these idols and
that it was because of their worship
that their crops were successful the
rain came and they had you know good
crops cultivation was you know was very
um healthy
Etc and with that delusion of this
uh lies which were promoted at that
point in time people fell into the Trap
of idolatry so the issue of of uh
creation of images of human beings Etc
it's forbidden fundamentally because of
this and if we look at those people
involved in idol worship throughout the
world the vast majority of the idols
which they worship are Idols of living
beings you know few people worship idols
of planets or or trees Etc most of the
idols that we're talking about are
living beings whether it's a human being
with an elephant's head you know or a
monkey's head or whatever you know you
know or it's a fish or a dog or whatever
people
worship idols that are made in the form
of hum human beings or animals and so it
has been prohibited across the board now
some people may say well you know what's
the harm you know really you know um if
what about people making you know we've
grown out of this this this um idolatry
business you know but um you know we
want to make it for the purpose of our
own enjoyment and entertainment Etc well
the reality is that the vast majority of
the world or much of the world is still
involved in idolatry so it's still alive
and well today and furthermore what it
does is it creates this this uh love in
the minds of people so much
so that the artists you know many times
when you speak to artists or you hear
artist talking about their Works they
will talk about how they're trying to
create something greater than
life you know something greater than
life which embodies something which you
can't even find in nature itself this is
their goal and this is where it's a kind
of like of a challenge with the Creator
and this is why in know one of the
statements of the Prophet may God's
peace and blessing be upon him that you
know on the day of judgment those who
are making the images will be asked to
bring life back to their im images in
their challenge to the Creator trying to
imitate the Creator anyway I mean if we
find a an art lover
and we and they and they're told that
hey this museum is burning
down there's a picture of Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci's
work and there's a baby in there you can
only take one out what are you going to
take out person the art lover will not
think twice he'll say I'll get the
picture of monisa you said what about
the child we say they'll say well you
know they many children born in the
world you know if we lose a child no big
deal there's other kids being born but
if you lose the Mona Lisa H this is
something
invaluable
so that work of art takes on an even
greater value than human
life this is this this is the sad state
that those who love images have reached
so from the Islamic
perspective the making of images you
know along with the production of music
you know is has been prohibited in Islam
to protect the society from the harm
which comes from it of course as I
mentioned the Muslim world today you
know in in having deviated away from
much of the teachings of Islam I mean
one might be surprised to hear that you
say well why we we see images all the
time in the society you know in our
Muslim societies that we've been in ETC
you know we see we hear music all the
time you know these type of things
however I mean the principle of
understanding Islam is not that Islam is
what people do you know Islam is not
what Muslims do but what Muslims should
do and to know what they should do one
needs to learn what are in fact the
teachings of Islam and then after
knowing that then you judge
Muslims in accordance with what Islam is
not to judge Islam according to what
Muslims
do the uh next topic that we'll be
looking at uh is that of modern science
and Islam we know from the tradition
which developed in in Europe where there
was a clash between the church and
science where scientists were burnt at
the stake their books were burnt and
when their theories seemed to contradict
or to challenge the beliefs of the
church which was dominant the Catholic
Church which was dominant in Europe at
the time science was there was an
attempt to crush science and scientific
inquiry etc
etc and from that uh experience the
general understanding in the minds of
many is that science and religion don't
mix you know they're at odds with each
other however when one comes into the
realm of Islam one finds that no this is
not the case some of the leading
scientists were of the Muslim world were
great theologians they were quite
knowledgeable Muslims in fact much of
the knowledge would spurn the the the
the Renaissance and the the the
development of Science in the west it
came through Muslim Spain and and uh and
Syria and Baghdad you know Damascus and
bdad this is where the science was
preserved during the Dark Ages what was
known as the Dark Ages the Middle Ages
in Europe these were the ages of the
Golden Ages of Science in the Muslim
world so Islam is not opposed to science
in fact from a on a conceptual
level science involves the discovery of
God's laws in his
creation human beings are not creating
anything they're only discovering these
laws and then applying them right God
gives them the ability to apply them so
the laws themselves are from whom from
God so knowledge of science what is true
science is ultimately from God we're not
talking about the theory and the false
ideas that are in the minds of some
scientists who promote for example that
this world is without beginning you know
the atheists among them who deny God's
existence Etc that's this is not
scientific there's no scientific proof
one cannot prove by science God's
non-existence in fact science points to
God's existence rather than to his
non-existence
however we're saying that uh when we
look at the the issue of scientific fact
we find that in fact it is it's in
harmony with Islamic teachings uh you
find many verses in the Quran which
address points and issues which modern
science has only just begun to to find
to to to to discover you know you find
when Islam speaks about the issue of the
uh the big bang for example in modern
times we talk about the Big Bang or the
development of the universe you can find
a verse in the Quran in the 51st chapter
verse 47 you'll find Allah saying I
built the heavens with power and it is I
who I'm expanding it in the 21st chapter
verse 31 you find similar statements of
the expansion of the universe you'll
also find the movement of the sun
mentioned in the Quran you know that
it's it has its own cycle that it's
moving and that it's running to an end
an ending point where the sun will end
find out in the 36th chapter verse
38 and you even find mentioned in the
Quran that human beings will pass
through the heavens leave the Earth and
pass into the heavens you know going to
the moon or whatever we can find in the
51st chapter verse 33 Allah is saying
there oh assembly of Gins and humans if
you can penetrate the regions of the
heavens and the Earth then penetrate
them you will not do that except with
the
authority meaning the authority of God
so mean there is plenty you know plenty
has been written about the Quran and
modern science from the Sunnah of the
Prophet Mami wasallam we find things
which are only recently scientifically
uh discovered based on Modern scientific
knowledge so Islam is not in opposition
to science not science fact and the use
of science for the benefit of human
lives Etc I know we have some sex
amongst people Christians who who shun
modern science they will drive around in
buggies they don't use electricity
they'll you know Islam is not in this
kind of state no Islam will use whatever
we can find in the society which is
beneficial scientific principles
technology using it for the benefit of
human beings and their society this is
part of and parcel of living and the
right that humans have Islam has no
problem with this at all but when we
come to some of the theories of science
this is where we may find some problems
and one of the biggest problems is that
of
evolution a modern
scientific theory though it's presented
as a fact which in fact is in direct
opposition to Islamic teachings and the
theory of evolution will be discussed uh
at some length in our com
segment and we hope that you will come
along to the program with us you will
follow our next program and and be
enlightened with regards to the Islamic
position on Evolution as I said
evolutionary theory not evolutionary
fact the facts which the evolutionists
use no one can deny we have
bones these bones represent animals
which were here on the earth which died
out
their ancestors to living animals today
we cannot no one can deny these things
but how do we interpret these
bones that we will have a look at in our
next program with that dear viewers I'd
like to thank you for being with us in
this segment of our program contemporary
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suggestions of cont temporary issues
you'd like to
hear otherwise you may call into the
television or you may email uh myself at
F
ld3 hotmail.com if you have certain
questions and we hope to see you in our
coming programs