the difficult questions of the difficult
questions um we have one which has come
up uh fairly
recently uh people
utilizing the
general
uh
repulsion that Society holds against
pedophiles
and all the cases of pedophilia coming
up here in the UK and in Europe and all
this kind of thing so that has become
now a point of
attack Jerry fwell one of the
evangelists in America he made this
statement on public television that
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam was a
pedophile he was seven you know 53 years
old and he married you know a 9-year-old
girl right
so this became you know a source of
attack on Muslims and
um obviously he got that information
from having you know some intimate
information about Islam the average
Christian may not bring this up because
if you haven't studied the life of the
Prophet wasallam you wouldn't know this
you know so you may run into it it just
depends if you're coming if somebody's
coming from America you know and they
were familiar with what was going on in
the television cuz it was repeated it a
few times in National Television in the
US you know so that accusation is there
so if they've been influenced by that
then you can hear it otherwise the
average Christian has no idea about it
so you may not have to deal with it but
in any case it's still a concept that we
should have a clear understanding of
because each one of each and every one
of us has a natural repulsion to a
pedophile and if you actually put the
prophet's marriage to AA in this context
you know it does seem to be
something which needs some kind of
explanation for us to have peace of mind
and peace of heart right I mean we may
have accepted it automatically but not
really thought about it so what is the
way in which we should understand this
first and foremost it is important for
us to understand it within you know the
context of the
time that in these times
uh people have set laws in terms of what
ages people can marry at and what ages
they can't they have set a certain set
of laws where uh if one has relations
with a woman who is or a young lady who
is below a certain age then they will
consider that to be
pedophilia and if she's above that age
then it's considered to be and it was
consensual consensual sex which is okay
the point is that when you go and look
at the
numbers across Europe you'll find that
it varies from country to
Country varying all the way from 12 to
18 so just depends on which country you
go to from France to Germany to
Netherlands to Italy to Spain you know
you're going around those different
countries you find the numbers varying
from 12 to 18 so what may be considered
uh acceptable relations in one country
is considered to be pedophilia in
another
country so they have numbers that they
have set to
Define where where con uh consensual sex
is acceptable or not for us in Islam we
have a natural
principle a natural dividing
line which is for a woman to be
considered an an an adult
or that she may be married and have
sexual relations Etc that dividing line
is
puberty that is a natural dividing line
puberty is the body saying that that
young lady is now capable of bearing a
child that's what puberty is about for
females menstruation
so whether one in this Society cons
considers that person still to be a
child or not that's not the issue the
issue is that
biologically she is now an adult capable
of bearing
child that is the bottom line and it's a
natural Division and that will take into
account variations which exist amongst
people amongst tribes areas of the world
Etc because you'll find that number
varying in Arabia nine was a common age
for
puberty other countries it
varied so that was the that was the
point this was the dividing line when
we're talking about
pedophilia what is pedophilia anyway is
pedophilia really adults going marrying
children no the pedophiles who were
coming out of Britain and Germany this
is the most largest uh body of
pedophiles and the US you know going
into southeast Asia to Thailand to Sri
Lanka the Philippines these countries
where people are in poverty right and
where you know young children have sold
themselves sold sell their bodies to to
earn money and where parents will be
willing to sell their children for money
these people who go there are they going
there to marry these kids no they're
going there to abuse them just to to
take pleasures and then leave so it's
not about marriage at all so when we
look in terms of the Prophet mam
wasallam situation this was
marriage so one we have a natural
dividing line
puberty two we have the issue of whether
it was marriage or whether it was sexual
abuse and
uh when we
consider really 1,400 years
ago what were the ages in which people
were considered to be marriageable or
not I'm sure I'm not I haven't studied
uh British history or not but I'm sure
if you go back in British history 1,400
years ago and look at the marriage
customs of that time it's not going to
be any
different so you would end up having to
go back and label the British Kings as
pedophiles and all these other kind of
things too you know so this is the point
is that in the world at that time they
didn't have uh they had not set these
older ages that we now find 18 and 16
and 18 this type of thing as they have
here today people matured
faster life was
shorter you know if you made it to 50
you know you're an old really old person
you you know that's you lived your life
out people died 35 as an old person 3540
you died then you you died an old
person so life was people develop much
faster as soon as the child reaches a
certain age they were taught the basic
things that uh a person should know how
to run a family take care of a home cook
and all the different things that were
needed children learn that what we call
children today learn that so where today
you can find a woman in her 20s studying
in University she still doesn't know how
to cook she can't iron you know she's
basically a baby still going to
University I mean this was something in
those days
inconceivable right so the attitudes of
society towards responsibility and all
kind of thing have changed consider
Usama I Zade who Prophet sallam made the
head military commander for the Muslim
armies 17 years
old imagine putting you know 17year old
the head of the Pentagon you know he's
got his finger he can press any button
and send missiles all over the world hey
we would be in World War II in a minute
right so we know that it's a there was a
whole different level of maturity people
matured at a whole different pace so we
always have to look at these things
within the
context and then we look at the
consequences people who have suffered
from pedophilia in
childhood what about those people when
they reach adulthood these people have
problems they got psychological problems
they're going to psychiatrists and you
know they've got all kinds of who was
Aisha Aisha was one of the leading
Scholars of the umah the fourth most
prolific narrator of Hadith you know
scholar of
Shar honored by the umah she wasn't a
person with you know psychological
problems and all these kind of things
her life was just shattered no so
obviously that whole marriage situation
was a legitimate marriage it had nothing
to do with pedophilia in any way shape
or form it was a legitimate marriage
which produced produced you know
positive and good results and it was a
marriage of that time but it remains
legitimate that if a Muslim man in his
50s even today wanted to marry a young
woman who was N9 or 10 she had reached
puberty it is legitimate the fact that
the world is not doing it in most places
people are not doing it doesn't mean
that it no longer is permissible no it's
you remains and in some societies I know
for example in India though you know the
whole issue of what they call child
marriages they Tred to ban it is is
officially illegal but they have shown
that well over 50% of marriages taking
place in India today in spite of the
Banning and everything
else the the girls are marrying under
age what they consider to be underage
which is like
16 16 and they're marrying till
today across India so these are uh
societies that are following principles
which have been handed down over
generations and people have not
understood that in terms of abuse now
there are other people who may abuse and
certain elements of abuses happen you
know where you know Arabs from uh from
the Gulf area having a lot of money have
gone into India and you know basically
bought Brides child Brides you know and
so there's an element of abuse there and
they've made issues about it in the
newspaper Etc but that is an exception
that is not the
rule the um other point which is a
controversial Point can create some
problems is the issue that Islam permits
husbands to beat their wives right this
is the heading we had a there was one
Imam there in France right who who got
kicked out of the country wasn't it just
uh some maybe about 6 months or so back
there was an Imam who uh because they
had record of him saying that husbands
could beat their wives and and there was
an Imam in Spain also who you know they
made a big thing about it how he had he
was even describing to the people how
they should beat their wives you know
that's how they put it right and uh you
know big big uh they wanted to cancel
his citizenship and all that kind of
stuff right uh because Islam
permits a a man to beat his wife right
as a statement the reality of course is
that uh though Islam permits a man to
hit his wife it is within a certain
context remember when we look at Western
society today which doesn't allow even
parents to hit their children we can
understand sensitivities
right even a parent today is not allowed
to hit their
child I don't know exactly what the laws
are here in the UK but I know in um in
America and Canada they're very
very very very uh strict if you hit your
child and your child reports you to the
uh Authorities Child Welfare authorities
that child will be taken out of your
possession taken away from you taken out
of your home and you can be
charged you know so there's a whole
different attitude that is developed in
the society towards the concept of
corporal punishment in
general so naturally the idea that now
you can hit a wife this is something but
we have to stop and say listen okay you
all you're making all this noise about
Islam saying that you can hit a wife and
with don't need to go before even going
into what are the conditions you know
the details concerning it Etc we have to
look at it from this perspective yes
Islam says a man may hit his wife but in
your Society are men hitting their
wives what kind of a rate do you have
here of men beating on their wives you
know the number of women that are killed
in the society under what circumstances
are they killed you'll find that the
majority of cases the husbands killing
their
wives this is where the women are dying
they're dying in the homes this is the
same country that says it's illegal we
have put it in the laws you cannot hit
your wife and the wives are being beaten
up you know left and right at a scale
which is you
know plague
scale and you go into the Muslim Society
it's true some husbands are beating
their wives too but is it
comparable not at
all not at all why because the family
structure in spite of all the problems
that Muslims have the family structure
is still
intact when you marry a young
lady you're marrying into a
family a family a father a brother you
know
Uncle cousins who are concerned about
their relative so if she comes home to
visit and she's got a black eye and a
broken arm and you're not going to say
what happened you know well my husband
beat me oh it's too bad no that's not
how you're going to react the father's
going to be upset what is this the
brother's going to be upset they're
going to go and see that guy and say hey
what are you doing here you know you
better not be beating on our daughter
here you know otherwise we have to come
over and deal with you you know you
understand I mean you got to make it
plain you don't want somebody doing that
to your but in in the societies where
families are broken down it's just a man
his wife and his kids those kids grow up
they're out they're on their own you
know a brother doesn't care what happens
to his sister father doesn't care what
happens to his daughter you know it's
your problem you married them you know
that's the kind of an attitude so
naturally that breeds abuse it breeds a
situation of abuse whereas with the
extended family intact then the chances
of abuse are much less and as I said it
doesn't mean it doesn't exist and maybe
in some of the Muslim cultures it's sort
of
accepted you know cuz we talked um I
didn't talk about it but we have the
issues of um honor killings you know
which is a form of an extended form of
Honor killing which in some areas of the
Muslim World they have more they more or
less accept it but Islam of course is
opposed to it so the point is that uh
one the legislation which the West has
has not guaranteed safety for women
they're still being abused on a massive
scale
secondly uh there are in the Islamic
family structure uh safeguards which
help to protect the women regardless of
what the legislation
says thirdly the a man hitting his wife
is in on a very limited
scale and that hitting is not
punishment that he's going to beat like
you might hit a child to punish the
child for having done something
wrong it is not like this it is only to
catch her
attention where talk has
failed to catch her attention where talk
has failed somebody is walking by you
want to catch your attention hey like
this this is what we're talking about
we're not talking about putting on
boxing gloves and you know blackening
eyes and breaking arms and things like
this no this is not this is not Islam
says Prophet wasallam said if you hit a
you should not hit a woman and cause her
skin to bruise and this is where the
Imam got himself in trouble he's trying
to say okay if you hit her make sure you
don't bruise her skin make sure you
don't you know he's explaining what this
really is not allowed that means he's
trying to Define for you that the hit
should not be a heavy hit that should be
very light only something of basically
tapping catching her attention wake up
you know our marriage is falling apart
not I divorce you and before you go I'm
going to leave you with a black eye
right you know get my revenge before you
leave no this is not the uh this is not
the principle involved here at all so we
need to put it in that uh kind of a
context and we need to also defend the
right to corporal punishment because
Prophet Sall wasallam said teach your
children Salah when they're seven and
spank them for it when they're 10 spank
them for it when they're 10 so that's
the society which says no you can't hit
your
children we have to take a
stand we have to take a stand and I mean
the consequence of them taking away the
right for parents to hit their children
we know what is happening in the schools
today and in the society the Rebellion
that is going on where people feel you
know free to attack the public you're
you're you're not safe you know in the
society because once you take away that
corporal punishment then people feel
there's no consequence for my acts I can
do anything anything I want and that is
the
reality that leads us also to the idea
of corporal punishment in Islam in
general you know we Muslims still hold
that a person who murders should be
executed whereas the UN has already
decided that this is unfair unjust Etc
um many countries have followed that
lead and so the idea that people are
still executing and they'd like to take
out some old films from Saudi Arabia and
that you know where somebody's head is
being chopped off and know look at these
people you know and um this idea of
corporal punishment you know presenting
Islam in a very ugly Light we kill
murderers well yeah we kill drug dealers
too you know we'll kill rapists I mean
there are people in the society who will
be executed there is a consequence for
their acts now we have to look to see uh
in the west their attitude
towards uh penal uh punishment you know
through uh Corporal means Etc and prison
Etc it has changed over the years in the
beginning they did recognize that that
uh corporal punishment was necessary for
Retribution the society the should get
back at the person who has done a crime
against the society that's
retribution it should also be uh for
deterrence that a person knows there's a
consequence for your crime so therefore
it should discourage you from doing it
and thirdly it is for reformation to
help to reform these members of the
society where the punishment is not
death but it is lashes or whatever
else however from the 50s
the attitude towards punishment changed
in the West in general in the US and UK
Etc and they said basically they took
the position that punishment for revenge
or what they call retribution or
for deterrence was not producing the
results which Justified its
application so they said the purpose of
jailing people you know the con the the
science of pinology changed its approach
to crime and said the purpose of uh
putting people in prison incarcerating
people Etc this should be for
reformation that person that criminal
should be looked at as somebody who has
been who is sick he's a sick person who
needs to be treated right he's sick
because the society is made made him
sick so now the blame is now put on the
society they're the ones for one way or
another who caused him to be in the
state that he is so we need to just
reform him so this is the attitude that
they they change to but of course what
is the
consequence the consequence is that as I
mentioned here in um in the
UK uh they are saying
that uh the Home Secretary announced on
the 2nd of April 1970s ages ago that the
death penalty was abolished here in UK
from
1965 that 172 convicted murderers had
been released from prison since
1960 most of them having served 9 years
or less for their statutory life
sentences they're been given life
sentences but the majority of them right
were only Ser serving less than uh 9
years only five served 12 or more nine
served six or less and one completed
only 6
months murdered and was out in 6 months
so where you have these kinds of
Statistics then it's not no surprise
that uh murder is easy people are being
killed left and right you you know just
in the p in the news today or yesterday
a little girl 14 years old walking home
in Nottingham or whatever she was uh
gunned down killed in the streets you
know for no apparent
reason uh and um the
overall rate of crime has been
rising in the West in spite of all the
technology all the success they've had
in terms of economics Etc the rate of
crime is
rising practically speaking in the
Muslim World there are a number of cases
Sudan being one of them where they
introduced the Sharia in
the mid
80s and within months of its application
the crime rate had dropped some
40%
proven in Iran also where they
introduced Sharia I mean besides issues
of sun Shia but where they introduced
the Sharia with its penalties crime rate
dropped and
Afghanistan where they introduced the
Shar dropped
dramatically and so we can see there is
a consequence there is a result a
positive result which has come from the
application of the Sharia it is a
deterrent so we defend islamically the
right to execute those who murder now
the attitude in the West in general
towards murder is different from that in
Islam in Islam when a person commits
murder this is a crime
against people it's not considered to be
crime against society and the West is
considered to be a crime against Society
so they have a jury uh decide whether
this person should be executed or not
whereas from the Islamic perspective
this is the decision of not people
external to the family but to the family
members themselves you know so what if
Western people or non-muslims whatever
raised the issue that hey somebody
commits murder amongst you and you all
can decide to let him go family members
can say let him go don't kill him you
know how is that well we look at it that
the crime is against the family so they
are the best ones to decide shall I let
this person go or shall this person be
given the full force of the law they're
the ones who suffered the loss rather
than turning it over into other people
who uh you know have their maybe their
own interests may be affected by a
variety of different
things the
judge the
jury had a bad day bad
night they come in and they're gung-ho
they want kill this guy you know kill
him who can I kill today you know so it
becomes a means of just taking off your
frustrations or your anger you know a
person's life can depend on that so
Islam says no this is the right of the
individual to app of course the issue
of uh death penalty for
adultery this the case of uh Amina La in
Nigeria this was a big big case and
Opera Winfrey and a bunch of other
people got in behind it you know save
This Woman's life and and um you know
the big issue was raised how look at it
they're going to kill her and the man
who did it he's getting off scotf free
she identified who it was and they're
not going to apply the law to him it's
only her so there two issues first issue
in terms of the law being applied to her
and not him she had a child so we have
no doubt she wasn't married she had been
married and divorced right she had a
child so there's no doubt that she
committed
adultery now the man that she had
fingered she identified can we just say
well she identified him so we'll kill
him too no the law doesn't operate like
that because maybe he wasn't the one
maybe this is just somebody she didn't
like and she said okay if I have to die
may as well kill him too let him die
along with me you know whereas the
person I really love who is really the
father I don't want him to die so so
that's not that's not evidence we don't
use that as
evidence right so this issue of her and
not him this is not an issue the other
issue about killing an adulterer or an
adulteress stoning them to death of
course
this is not the law which Islam Muslims
Muhammad wasallam introduced himself
this is already in your Bible this is in
your Bible this is not something we
introduced it's already in your
Bible right this is the law the law of
Moses
so the the question
comes still you're killing somebody for
that crime we have to say to
them you have an issue about it now why
because adultery is no longer longer a
crime for you adultery fornication is
something that you have taken for
granted it's okay everybody's doing it
we have presidents doing it you
know you know we have presidents and
nobody's you know it was a little bit of
uh dicey stuff you know for a while
there but you know basically people got
by because this is the times a different
times so the idea society which has
accepted its leaders to be involved in
adultery as being okay because everybody
else is doing it anyway why should we
kill him or why should we you know
depose him or remove him as presidents
when we are doing the same thing should
we have a double standard of morality
that is okay for us but not for our
president no no they say no it's just
you know we know it's though before we
didn't used to like it and that but
times have changed right okay so
naturally a society which looks at this
in this way naturally the idea to go
kill somebody for it now oh that's
that's very severe very
extreme right but for us there's a
different
Outlook why does Islam have such a
severe P punishment for
adultery why messes up messes up the
family it it relates back to the family
it destroys the
family it's breaking down the root of
your Society the foundation of your
Society is being destroyed the family is
the key once you destroy that your
Society is
finished so in order to preserve the
family whatever would attack the family
is dealt with very
severely in Islamic law and that's why
and really this law we have to tell the
people listen this law is a deterrent
mainly because for you to apply it
unless a woman has a baby or a woman and
a man
confess then to actually catch somebody
in the act because it requires four
Witnesses four adult witnesses to see
them in the
ACT no
photographs because photographs can be
doctored right four adult Witnesses what
does that mean that means that person
had to be so
public that they deserve to be
killed so it is more of a deterrent than
it is really a law which is applied on a
regular basis the number of people who
have been executed for adultery over the
last 100 years
minimal a very small number of people
around the Muslim world
so we use that you know to
clarify that Islam takes a very strong
position for the protection of the
foundation of the society
itself also the issue of uh cutting off
hands this is another issue that people
raise uh and they usually describe it in
the newspaper as hacking off hands you
know Muslims they hack off the hands of
a murder of a thief so that implies you
get a hack saw and you start to saw off
the person's hand very brutal or they
say chopping off hands that gives you
the idea of a meat cleaver right the
butcher chops the meat so he's chopping
off their hands this is how they put it
trying to put it as gory as possible I
mean it's his amputation there limb is
cut
off it is true and there's a website on
the um on the internet which uh is it
comes in when you come to it it's about
the hand right and it um shows you all
the things that the hand does the
wonders of the hand how the muscles work
and you know in you know and beautiful
this is a beautiful creation of God you
know beautiful at the end of it it says
and Muslims cut it
off you know this is an indirect attack
right I'm to sh you how beautiful that
hand is Wonder of Allah's creation and
Muslims cut it
off so uh for us you know we explain to
them
listen we don't just cut it off like
that in the first place right there are
conditions it has to be over a certain
value it had to have been something
which wasn't in public it's left out
where people are tempted they take it
this is against the professional Thief
one who is a pickpocket you know you
don't pick people's pocket by accident
you know you have to practice and train
at it you know a person who Robs a Bank
who you know cracks into your home these
are professional thieves this is who
it's directed at
and we have to say that when that hand
is cut
off or the threat of having the hand cut
off it is a deterrent in the society it
keeps safy it preserves the safety of
that
Society I mean you can I I lived
personally in Saudi Arabia for 20 years
and I can say quite easily that I never
had a latch on my front door I didn't
have a l lock on my front door we
regularly left the front door it was
just pulled and that's it anybody could
open the door and come walking
in you Tred to do that
here that's very dangerous I notice
people come in their homes there's locks
and Pad locks and you know we have
things you codes and you know and even I
was shocked when I came back at one
point coming here to the UK I saw
getting out of a car with a friend of
mine it was in Birmingham he was pulling
out the the tape recorder with
him why are you doing that you know if I
leave it in the car somebody will break
the window just to get at it you know
then they vented the way now you can
just take off the front of the tape
recorder right you don't have to take
off the whole thing anymore make it
smaller but I mean what there's no
security that's one of the things
actually which caused a lot of people to
accept Islam in uh the Gulf area in
Saudi Arabia especially you know is that
sense of security somebody was asking me
before about what was the reason after
the Gulf War we had in a center where I
was involved about 3,000 people accept
Islam you know within about 5 months
after the war and uh this was back in
the early 90s and one of the big reasons
that that people accepted Islam was this
sense of security they felt a sense of
security in the country they were coming
in we' take them help them buy gold
jewelry and that and they would wear it
openly say you know we couldn't possibly
do this back home go to New York Chicago
you know wear gold H that's asking for
some somebody to take your hand off
they'll take your hand off to get that
ring or that you know they'll take your
hand off in a minute so that sense of
security this word is this come from it
comes from the threat of
punishment as well as of course the
belief people have you know with regards
to La God Etc but that threat of
punishment backs up that belief supports
it um
uh there is one other point which is um
commonly mentioned in the
west uh here in the UK
and in uh North
America the attitude of Muslims towards
homosexuals we are laed as being
homophobic right you know we are we have
the unfortunate disease of homophobia
mental disease of
homophobia right of
course we have to remind them that the
whole of the West Was homophobic you
know 40 years ago Go Back 40 years ago
and homosexuals were hidden they said
they're in the closet you know they
would hide their homosexuality they
wouldn't openly show it in the society
the average Brit American Canadian you
ask them what's your thoughts on
homosexuality they would say this is
evil this is corrupt
sinful bad maybe they'll quote from the
Bible it's an Abomination unto the Lord
you know
whatever but by the
70s the whole talk Chang didn't it it
became alternative
Lifestyles right personal choices
Different Strokes for different folks
you know they have all kinds of names to
to try to explain that you know you do
your thing I do mine you know you don't
bother me I don't bother you you know
this it's a whole different attitude and
really in the medical profession that
change took place because before back in
the
60s homosexuality was considered to be
an illness a mental illness and they had
treatment for it in the psychiatrist uh
handbook book they had treatments shock
treatments drug treatments a variety of
treatments but by the late '70s it was
removed no longer an illness replaced by
homophobia so we who used to despise
them consider it to be evil Etc we are
now the sick ones we need to go lie on
the psychiatrist Crouch and get
reprogrammed right so I mean of course
they have a variety of arguments to
defend it they mention mentioned there
in the notes
9798 you know and it's good to be aware
of of their their arguments and their
arguments of course in the end don't
hold water in the end uh where they try
to claim that this is something
natural they're born with it you know
how can we you know oppose it when it is
something uh natural we say we don't
accept that it's something
natural yes people may have tendencies
and life experiences
May uh focus on certain Tendencies and
cause them to rise tendency which are
not good Tendencies I mean because if
we're going to say okay um person's
homosexual because they're born
homosexual these Tendencies then you can
say that about the pedophile too or
about the murderer or about you know any
other criminal you know they they they
have arguments about about this being in
the genes so we don't accept this people
have tenden IES but they are not robots
programmed where you have to do whatever
you you have Tendencies for no we have
an ability to choose you may feel a
desire to do something but you know it
is wrong and you stop yourself and there
should be a consequence for
that so we don't accept the arguments
that people are born homosexuals this
has never been proven
medically biologically it has not been
proven people have tried to make claims
they've brought up arguments I've
mentioned some of them in the notes here
you know but they have all fallen and
proven themselves to be
false the last major point I'd like to
touch on in terms of our difficult
questions is the issue
of uh religious
freedom you a Muslim you want to leave
Islam you are
executed I say what kind of religion is
this
apostasy you decide you don't want to be
a Muslim anymore and they'll kill
you sounds pretty serious you know and
they say okay that's why so many of you
don't convert cuz you're afraid of death
you know
reality
reality is that of course in the
west they do execute people for treason
isn't it you commit treason you set tell
State secrets to the enemy you will be
executed so the issue of the state and
protection of that state is one big
enough that we that you can be killed
for in
Islam religion and the
state are
one Islam is not like a religion as the
West understands religion which is a
private Affair so the idea for you to be
killed about making a a private Affair
you know your choice in a private Affair
this sounds ludicrous ridiculous how you
choose to be a this or a that or you
change you they're going to kill you no
no this is
personal so they have to understand that
religion in Islam is not a personal
Affair alone yes it has a personal
element but it is the state so when a
person uh leaves Islam publicly
they are challenging that
state so it is like an act of
treason and this is why the law is so
severe and that is for the person who
publicly goes out and says I have left
Islam Islam is this that and the other
yes that person will be
executed Islam instituted that law in
Medina when what the Jews were trying to
mess up the Muslims
what they did and it's mentioned in the
Quran they would come in to Islam in the
morning and in the afternoon they would
leave Islam to try to shake the faith of
the Believers so the law came you come
into Islam in the morning you better not
leave in the
afternoon okay so you can't play with
Islam you have to be serious you become
a Muslim you become a Muslim because you
really believe it you're serious in it
you come into it you know so those to
protect the state from people trying to
disrupt it and to undermine the religion
Etc so that's the general principle but
if you personally you know leave Islam
and you keep quiet about it nobody's
going to hunt you down we don't have
Inquisition courts they like the Spanish
Inquisition you know Spread spread all
across Europe people's Faith was being
tested we don't have that you personally
don't believe you keep it to yourself
nobody's going to hunt you down or you
leave the country you leave the Muslim
country go into a non-muslim country you
want to make make a big
poster say I left Islam we're not going
to send any agents after you to go kill
him we have to take this person out no
that's your choice you've done it
outside the country that's your business
but inside the country inside the Muslim
country then we wouldn't tolerate it to
protect the weaker elements of the
society where if somebody's openly
rejecting Islam that can get into the
hearts of others whose Islam is shaky
and draw them into disbelief also so
it's for the protection of the society
as a whole you know this law is there
and as I said we stress the concept of
uh Islam and state being
one so those are the main points
inshallah you know there was some other
issues concerning music you can read
about it and
terrorists and
Jihad um the only thing I would just say
uh concerning terrorism is that one
man's Terror terrorist is another man's
Freedom
Fighter you know when you read the
definition for who a terrorist is from
the American government it means that
those who did the American Revolution
were all
terrorists to liberate America from
British rule whatever they were
terrorists based on their own definition
so it just depends on who is looking at
the the picture of course there is a
general principle that we do hold that
there are some acts which we don't have
any doubt that these are terrorist acts
where violence is directed at innocent
uh members of the society children and
others who are not combatants that this
for us is Terrorism not acceptable
islamically and those Muslims who
interpret the eye for the eye
meaning you kill our women and children
we will kill your women and
children they have not understood Islam
because that's not what Islam
says if they kill our women and children
then we have to kill them the people who
did it not the people their family
members who didn't do it this is not how
the eye for the eye works I for the eye
you knock out my eye I have the right to
have your eye knocked out not your
brother's eye your sister's eye your
mother's eye no your
eye if you knock out my mother's eye
then it's your eye that needs to be
taken
out not your mother's eye so that's not
how eye for the eye operates h so some
people have used that to
justify uh acts of terrorism directed
against non-combatants in the society
and Islam where we see that happening we
should not support it we should
recognize and accept that it is not
acceptable it is wrong islamically and
stand on that but at the same time we it
is important for us to let them
understand that there are
reasons let us not just ignore what is
happened in the country so those certain
people you know cutting off Big's head
on the television you know if it is done
by Muslims uh we don't support it we say
this is wrong this should not have been
done but at the same time there was a
bigger wrong going on which was
attacking Iraq you know uh and
devastating that country killing many of
its civilians etc etc that was a bigger
wrong that was not right so we don't
although on one hand we recognize where
there's wrong we don't just stop there
we also try to take those issues back to
the primary causes and look and see well
here this this there was a bigger wrong
here these people in desperation they've
done these things don't we don't though
we don't endorse these desperate
actions at the same time we also are
opposed to what took place in the first
place
[Music]
um basically my My Story begins uh in
first year
university um I had a year where I think
a lot of problems happened to me uh my
parents separated that
year my dog died that was a particularly
tough day um Subhan Allah uh I had two
car accidents in the space of one
week um and also sadly I had a friend
pass away that year I think that year
led me to sort of ask some questions
along the lines of why am I here why
what's the purpose of life why do I get
up in the morning why do I even bother
why don't I just sit on the couch watch
TV Jerry Springer
whatever and I think I started to ask
questions about you know the purpose of
life and that led me to start to do a
bit of a holy
Quest naturally as an Aussie the first
thing I did was invest
Christianity um I had a few Christian
Christian friends and um I remember
going to a church camp was one of the
funniest camps I've ever been to In My
Life everybody was singing I didn't know
what the words were I didn't know what
they were saying sounded great they had
beautiful voices but uh it just seemed
really strange and everybody was telling
me how much God loved me and I was
thinking God loves me my dog
died Subhan
Allah so I kept on investigating
Christianity and I went to a whole lot
of U I guess different aspects of
Christianity so we're talking about
Catholicism uh we're talking about
Anglican Baptist you know priests
pastors and every time I'd go there and
ask questions I'd find that they
wouldn't pick up the Bible and start to
say oh this is the answer my dear
brother they would just start answering
me they would just answer from their own
opinions and I started to realize that
there was a lot of interpretations of of
Christianity and a lot of people had
their own interpretations and one priest
from one church was believing one
particular aspect of Christianity whilst
another was proclaiming another so I
started to think to myself the Bible is
one text but there seems to be so many
different interpretations and it was
confusing um at the time while I was in
first year university I was also working
in a service station one of my part-time
jobs and uh one of the uh one of my
colleagues was a Hindu was an Indian
Hindu and we'd regularly change shift
and at that time I was very inquisitive
and I'd say to him dude what's the deal
with that elephant head guy you know
what what's the deal with that you know
why is that guy got an elephant head and
he's going oh that's ganisha you know
this I said we couldn't you have chosen
like a lion's head or some something a
bit better we'd have you know these real
really deep theological debates while
people were buying petrol and I'd be
saying yeah but why brought here five
bucks of gas thanks mate yeah no
problems and uh again I I found that
that was very hard to stomach so I sort
of investigated a little bit further I
went into I had a a good friend of mine
was a Mormon um and I found this
religion actually appealed to me the
most out of all of the Christian
religions the the Church of lday saints
they were quite strict um they don't
drink alcohol um they they don't drink
caffeine so unfortunately Coke's out
guys cuz I know Leos love
Coke um but uh again you know there was
that leap of faith I felt that I had to
make to to embrace this religion and I
found that you know I wasn't just into
making a leap of faith I wanted proof I
also investigated Judaism would you
believe um um and my original name
before Abu Baker is Reuben so if you've
probably seen all the movies you've seen
Ruben Stein at the end they probably
thought I was Jewish so they thought oh
this guy's you know one of us but again
you know I I just didn't find what I
what I was looking for um lastly I
probably looked into Buddhism and I
found that this was probably the the
religion that I was going to choose I
thought look this is great you know
there's um there's so much uh you know
people people at peace here they seem to
be really switched on um and they seem
to be living one with the world and
that's what really appealed to me but
the more and more I looked into it I
guess I realized that it wasn't a
religion of God it was just a nice way
to live um one of my friends one of my
my close friends who's a Christian um
would you believe said tell me the
religions that you've investigated so I
went through them I said you know
Judaism Christianity Catholicism
Buddhism Hinduism he goes what about
Islam Islam I they're terrorists I'm not
going to investigate that religion
they're crazy why would I even look look
at that religion but lo and behold I
found myself walking into a mosque one
day this was my Eternal Quest so I
walked straight in shoes on straight
across the prayer
rug there was a brother praying I walked
straight in front of him as he went to
going to S I almost stepped on his head
Subhan Allah I didn't have any clue what
I was
doing I looked over and I saw this
brother you probably know this guy this
is Abu Hamza he's come here and he's
lectured a few times um Subhan Allah I
call him Abu because he's got a very
large beard mashallah he came walking
out towards me and I thought today I'm
about to
die this is the last day of my
life I'm a dead man I'm a white boy in
leand what am I going to do here I'm
dead he came walking across as though he
just walked out of the Sahara Desert
big big beard but Subhan Allah the first
word he said said were get day mate how
you
going if only he had the can of VB it
would have been
perfect Subhan Allah I was very taken
back by his uh by his welcoming nature
um as Aussies I guess now I don't want
to offend any Australians here but my my
upbringing is from a a country
upbringing um my parents raised me as an
atheist they were raised as Christians
they were dragged along to church every
Sunday and they hated every minute of it
so as soon as we were born they drummed
it into our heads that when you die
you're worm food that's it there's no
afterlife there's no God it's all
rubbish so I was raised as a as an
atheist so when I walked across and uh
and I I saw Abu Hamza and he was talking
to me um in a very polite fashion which
I was very thankful for because I was
sure I'd seen him on the 5:00 news
hijacking a plane the day
before now Aussies are hospitable don't
get me wrong but Leos are the most most
hospitable people I've ever come across
and as the brother Hamza was saying
these brothers are making me Cups of Tea
you know and I honestly needed to keep
going to the toilet every 5 minutes they
just kept putting tea in front of me and
biscuits I've never seen anything like
it and I think to some degree I kept
coming back for the biscuits but also
for the
religion so when I sat down with these
brothers I actually started asking
questions I asked all the questions that
I've asked of uh of the the priests of
the pastors of um of my friends and
Subhan Allah that the thing that really
struck me is that every time I asked the
question they wouldn't just answer they
would pick up a Quran and they would say
read this bro read this and there was
the answer every single time and I would
ask another question you you know the
hard questions not the easy questions
why do women have to wear the scarf why
why the the hijab how come I can have
four wives and she can't have four
husbands you know I wanted to know all
the tough questions which is the first
questions I guess you ask when uh when
you come across Islam but lo and behold
they kept on answering the questions
with the Quran not from their own
opinion and I got frustrated with this
and I actually said to one of the
brothers cuz by this stage i' I think
I've been going there for about a couple
of weeks there was always a few Brothers
there when I went and I said to one of
the brothers I said you know what's your
opinion on the matter why won't you give
me your opinion and one of the brothers
turned to me one day and said how can I
have an opinion when this is the word of
God Subhan Allah I remember that really
hit me so I asked him if I could take a
codan home and I didn't say I was going
to use it to chalk up the couch or
anything like that I said I was going to
respect the book so they I took it home
I started reading it um what I found was
while reading it it wasn't as though I
was reading a story it was though I was
reading someone commanding me you know
someone giving me guidance and uh one
night I decided to really try and get
this spiritual mood happening and I'm
sure probably some of you have heard
this story before so I apologize um I'd
lit a
candle I had the window open
had the curtains drawn you know I was
trying to get that really spiritual
feeling it was a nice summer night in
Melbourne as summer as it can get in
mour and uh I was sitting there thinking
this is it you know this is the night
I'd been you know investigating all the
spiritual proofs all the scientific
proofs about the fact that the mountains
are the pigs about you know how how the
the embryo develops inside uh you know
the woman all these amazing proofs but I
still needed that little push it's like
I was on the edge of a cliff I was ready
to jump I just needed to push so I was
sitting there was very
quiet I was reading Quran I
stopped I said Allah this is my moment
this is the time I'm about to jump into
Islam all I need is just a sign just a
little sign nothing huge maybe a bolt of
lightning you know may maybe half the
house could fall down or something you
know just just small small for you man
you created the Earth come
on so I sat there I was waiting for the
candle to start lighting up to 4 M high
like in the
movies and I go okay
go and Subhan Allah nothing absolutely
nothing
happened I was really disappointed to be
honest so I sat there and I said Allah
this is your chance
I'm here I'm not going nowhere I'll give
you another chance okay maybe you're
were busy you know I know it's daytime
over the other side of the world there's
a whole lot of stuff going on maybe this
time it could just be like a car
backfiring you know something small all
right the half the house the candle was
forget
that a bird could fart outside I don't
care just
anything so I said okay
go and Subhan Allah absolutely abely
nothing happened and I mean I couldn't
have even said that was it that that
creep just then in the wall that was it
absolutely nothing happened I was really
disappointed I was gutted I I was
sitting there thinking this is it you
know this was my last chance Islam and
and I really I haven't found it I pulled
back the Quran I turned back to where I
was reading Subhan Allah the very next
verse on the next page for those of you
who ask for
signs have we not shown you enough
already look around you
look at the stars look at the sun look
at Water these are the signs for the
people of
knowledge Subhan
Allah I threw the duner over my head and
I I pretended I was asleep I was that
scared cuz I couldn't believe how
arrogant I'd been to want my own
specific sign when all the signs had
been there for me all along the fact
that we have this world the fact that
there is this creation these are the
signs for all of
us the next day I decided this is it I'm
becoming a Muslim I've been
investigating uh Islam now for probably
about 6 months to be honest I went in
and I said to myself this is it I'm
going to make Shah I had no idea what I
had to say I had no idea what the words
were it was probably close to is prayer
so it would have been you know 7 8:00 at
night um I went in and and I couldn't
believe it there was about a thousand
people at the mosque I thought Subhan
Allah look at this religion look at how
strong they are was the first night of
Ramadan Ramadan
Muslims so I sat there and I was very
nervous I must admit I got up and this
person's going to me you got to say
these words bro Ash had I'm going what
Ash what can't I just say it in English
now they're say no you got to say in
Arabic and I thought looked out over the
sea of beards that I could see in front
of me and I thought if I get these words
wrong I'm a dead man again I had this
fear you know and they were staring at
me and I don't know if you know this but
Australians can't stare Lebanese people
can
stare so I was sitting there I was very
scared I got up and Subhan Allah as soon
as I started to say the
words all fear went out of my mind it
felt as though a shower was inside my
head and someone had just turned on the
cold tap felt like I'd been flushed
clean I said the words and I I wasn't
expecting so many brothers to come up
and
yell and start kissing me and hugging me
now I'd never been kissed by that many
men in my
life but it was a beautiful day I must
admit and that day was the day that I
had more Brothers than I could ever uh
ever imagine more sisters as well but um
I guess since that day I've never looked
back my family I think initially were
very worried that uh I was going to be I
guess a little bit weird to towards them
that they thought that I was going to
break out the AK-47s and the grenades uh
but they realized I think soon that that
this religion was actually making me a
better
person prior to Islam you're not going
to believe it I had a
mohawk I did I had I'm not going to show
you any photos um I had Army greens I
had the Metallica t-shirt I had the
Cherry docks I was shocking right I
thought I looked great but I looked
terrible and alhamdulillah ever since
then look as good as I do now no don't
laugh
please but my parents were the first
people to actually say to me once which
really um amazed me they said my father
actually asked me for the Quran recently
which I was really happy about um I
always thought he'd be one of the
hardest people to to work on but uh he
said to me ever since you've been a
Muslim you've been a better person
you're more
reliable I can count on you to come and
pick me up if my car breaks down whereas
before I going dad I was drinking last
night I don't know if it's still out of
my sister
[Music]
okay brother's asking for an example of
a secondary issue of AA about which the
sahabah differed whether the prophet
Sall wasallam was um taken up in is
bodily or was it only
spiritually the sahab differ on it some
held that he was body and spirit some
held it was only
spiritual well okay you know the
argument that to give da you must be a
scholar I mean if that were the case
then would have no meaning convey
whatever you've learned for me though it
be only a single verse of the Quran then
it would lose its meaning and that was
not the way of the sahaba how many of
the sahab we could say we
Scholars you know there are
specific individuals among the sahaba
who were their leading Scholars Abdullah
Abbas Abdullah Omar etc etc but the mass
of sahaba they gave
da you know so that argument is a weak
argument but the point is that one knows
one's limitation you don't give da
beyond what you have knowledge of
sorate what you just said but how is
just work how is that progressing what
it differ
to kind of things you do well there in
it's um situation is is is
different um the
approach um is
different
um we
have for example in different organiz
ganizations if we go to the hospitals
for example where there are a lot of
non-muslims you know professionals Etc
you know giving da amongst them is
possible um difficult for you here to
just go into a hospital and try to give
dawa amongst the hospital workers this
it's difficult there you have at least
some structures some structures in the
country which will allow and permit you
to put up posters and to set up a table
or to you know give out leaflets or
whatever so that is a positive element
and so we have you know quite a quite a
good number of people who are accepting
Islam on a regular basis there you know
focusing for example on housemaids
actually this is the biggest uh source
of people coming into Islam are from
housemaids women who are mainly from
Philippines Sri Lanka who work inqari
homes so the qataris often times because
those obviously it to be
Ki families who practice Islam you know
are decent examples of Islam then it has
an impact on the people who work with
them so they want to know something
usually they the families don't have any
knowledge to I mean to in their
languages to be able to explain to them
so they bring them down to the centers
so we find people are being brought in
you know you don't have to go out here
really you have to go out to go find
people there people are coming at you
all the time you know people are being
brought in so that's a difference in the
nature of the daa there our Center
actually I mean we have one Center
called qcpi which is a government center
from the a which focuses on da into the
families and the the housemates and all
these others and then there's
also the center I'm with Center um we
have two focuses one which are series of
lectures on AA and tap and so on so
which is for both new Muslims and uh
Muslims who have been Muslims for so
many years to increase their knowledge
of Islam so that is an ongoing program
that we have and we also have this da
training program so what we'll do for
example we just finished a uh course for
uh female doctors at hammed hospital
it's one of the big hospitals there uh
every Saturday we had two hours for them
and we taught them the same complete
course and then they
would in turn be involved in dawa
because being in a doctor as a doctor
you're in a very critical situation you
know to be able to give to people people
are in a vul they're vulnerable in that
sense so that makes it much
easier to um uh to give them da so we
focus on different uh levels of
Professionals in the society and invite
them train them those who have some
knowledge of English and then let them
go ahead and give da so that is our
Focus okay there's a written question
here about dawa no compromise in Islam
uh I'd like an explanation on
that well it depends on what you mean by
no compromises in
Islam No compromises of our basic
principles true we don't compromise
basic principles when the qur asked the
prophet wasallam to make a compromise
they said
okay we understand that you are keen on
this worshiping Allah alone you know and
we can appreciate you know Allah is the
creat the heavens and the Earth so what
we'll do is one year we'll worship Allah
along with you and then one year you
know you worship the others along with
us of course Prophet s wasallam could
not accept that when the quesi leaders
told the prophet Sall wasallam listen
we're interested we'd like to come into
Islam but you got to get rid of these
low class people you have around you the
slaves and others who became Muslims you
know we can't sit with these
people what did the prophet sallam do
said okay I'll get rid of them so we can
sit no you can't
compromise so those basic things in
terms of conveying the message Etc we
don't make compromises on but if we say
um
by establishing
priorities you see some people mistake
priorities to be compromised somebody
wants to accept Islam woman she's been
married 20 years she's got five kids she
wants to accept Islam do do you need to
tell her that listen once you become a
Muslim you are separate from your
husband you can no longer be with your
husband anymore and blah blah that can
stop her in her
tracks that will stop her in her tracks
so is it a compromise that you don't get
into that that you leave it you focus on
her building her knowledge of Islam and
increasing herself in Islam etc etc and
even if somebody tells her and
unfortunately you'll find some Muslims
who are there ready to tell her she has
to know this you know you know you can
explain to her listen it is better for
you to become a Muslim and stay with
your husband than for you not to become
a Muslim is that a
compromise when a man came to the
prophet S wasallam young man right he
came to him sahaba around the prophet
and said oh prophet of Allah I would
like to accept Islam but can you give me
permission to
fornicate what did the prophet sallam
say get out of here the sahab they were
get this guy out of here you know
prophet
said no leave him sit him down and he
asked him you know would you like
somebody to fornicate with your mother
he said no no no no not my mother would
you like somebody to fornicate with your
sister no no not my sister your daughter
no no no my your aunt no no no no he
said well whoever that you do that with
will be somebody's mother or their
sister or their aunt he got the
message he got the the message was it a
compromise not to have just driven him
off with that horrible question he was
asking you know see some people
understand compromise meaning that you
have to give them the harsh reality of
Islam we call it Sledgehammer Islam you
know you come with your Sledgehammer
you're just cracking people over the
heads you know know that's how you give
your da no that that is you know as
Allah said you
know you know if you were harsh
hard in your heart people would have
fled from around you they wouldn't have
been interested in the
message yeah um but I want to ask you a
question when you doing um doing da this
morning the um radio I was hearing about
know can bigly got beheaded and the lady
was saying you know we should just if
they behead ours we should behead theirs
and I'm sure we'll probably meet people
like that you on the street now if
someone comes to you with that view of
like you know peratis beheading and all
that
how should you take the flow of the
conversation because I mean that's very
hard to do because there emotional
anger what you should do which's the
best one you know okay um actually we're
going to cover that in this next session
when we start back up we'll be covering
that we have what is called the power
principle to deal with it you know you
have to uh the person who's coming with
to you with emotional anger you have to
neutralize
that you know you have to settle them
down calm them down you know otherwise
you'll not be able to commun you'll just
be headon right so you have to be able
to neutralize and basically the point is
that where Muslims have done something
wrong you can't defend it you can't say
well you know they're justified in doing
it no so you where something is wrong
you have to accept this is this is
hideous this is not from Islam I don't
agree with it I you know I I I'm with
you this is something terrible
should not be done but but there's a
but coming into the people's country
blowing them up and you know taking over
their oil and all these other things
this is evil also you know this is a big
evil yes it's a big evil which has led
people to do these kinds of things not
that we agree with the kind of things
they're
doing but we also must must look at the
root of the problem so you take them
from the individual act to go to look at
the root the root of it to understand
that this is oppression there is evil
that has taken place there you know and
no society would would can justify this
evil so we try to take them back to the
core issues you know and recognize where
there's wrong we recognize it we say
this this Islam doesn't condone this
it's not from Islam individuals do it
when the IRA you know did with things
that they did did we uh blame it on
Catholicism Catholic Ira terrorists no
no no they were Ira terrorists they did
things but they did have a cause they
did have issues political issues ETC you
know which had to be
resolved a wearing clothes plays a vital
role should we dress up in Islamic
clothes or English clothes
well
um we have principles of dress which
Islam requires of us as long as we are
fulfilling those principles of dress
islamically then we can dress whether it
is taken from the dress of the people of
the land that we're in or
not as long as that dress is not unique
to them specific things that they wear
which are accessories like ties for
example for men you know it's an
accessory it is not a necessity it's not
a necessary part of dress wearing a
jacket this is something necessary you
freeze to death otherwise you know so
you so those things you take from their
clothing fine as long as in your
clothing you maintain the Islamic
guidelines you know your pants are not
below your ankle you know they're not
tight that they show your thigh Etc you
know they should be very loose as long
as they uh follow Islamic principles so
that the body parts are not exposed then
there is leeway and from there one makes
One's Own itad in one circumstance
if one is coming into a Charged
atmosphere where the non-muslims are you
know hyped up where they react very
strongly to you know Muslim dress Etc
obvious Muslim dress then to tone your
dress down a bit for that circumstance
is
acceptable it's
acceptable but it's still again that's
your own individual Jad we can't really
say that no you should wear this dress
all the time or no you should not
because where there's leeway in the dean
then we don't want to you know make it
so narrow that nobody else can follow
it I have encountered some problems in
because to uh some Christians who say
that I have felt the Holy
Spirit um and like you said that have
that emotional attachment but they truly
believe that the holy spirit is in front
of them and they are speaking to the
Holy Spirit they say that we raise our
hands and we speak to him and he
responds so how would you respond to
that
well you know I would just say
that you believe I mean obviously it is
an issue of belief in the Holy Spirit
and that this uh took place uh that um
we can find same thing you can say to
them among Hindus you know who believe
uh in the spirit because when they
worship their Idols right they will
say yeah you see a physical Idol here
but we are not worshiping that physical
Idol but God becomes concentrated in
that Idol at the time God who is in me
and in you he becomes concentrated it's
a it's a portal to reach God and I can
feel God at that time what do you think
about that one you know so what you
feel can be a result of a variety of
things you've been told that it was this
or it was that and so that's what you
have accepted but other people feel the
same thing and interpret it another way
so really if we want to analyze right
and wrong in this matter we can't do it
according to our
feelings we can't do it according to our
feelings according to people's feelings
in India you have uh this guy Sai Baba
in Southern India Sai Baba has 8 million
followers who believe that he is God
incarnate he comes amongst them and they
experience what they feel to be a Godly
presence
though he has been accused of
abuse cuz he's a bachelor he's been
accused of abuse you know of his male
followers and all this stuff people come
from America and that and you know
there's a whole number of their F former
followers who have written things
against him for you know homosexual
abuse sodomy and all this kind of stuff
but it's hidden from the main followers
he still comes amongst the main
followers and they feel his presence he
does magic he's involved in doing some
magic tricks and stuff and they're just
blown away you know you could never
convince one of them that this wasn't
God so we say these things you know we
we try to stay away from emotions in
this matter because as they say emotions
are blind they say love is blind you
know it's a common phrase in the west
Love is Blind why that emotion when a
person's in love then they can't see
that person clearly anymore
they can't see any of the negative
qualities Etc they can only see this
person you're in love with that person
finished that's it so you try to explain
to no no really this person is not a
good person no no no you don't know what
you're talking about so on so so CU
emotionally their judgment has been
clouded so we have to say listen we want
to understand who God is we have to do
it according to reason God gave us the
ability to reason for a
purpose they want to say Divine mystery
no no no God gave us reason to
understand
him listen to the reason of the early
prophets were they talking the kind of
reason you're talking you know so on
so how do you deal with a person who um
who's asking about Islam but when you
explain Islam to them they don't really
they don't understand anything of it you
speak to them about Allah and Islam you
generally explain Islam to them but they
don't understand any anything of it but
they still want to go ahead with it what
do you do in that
situation if a person you
question you have explained Islam to
them they haven't understood it but they
want to become a Muslim should you give
them shahada is that what you're asking
even though they don't really understand
it well I would advise them to
wait and do it out of understanding
because if you um if they're going to
insist on becoming Muslim then you need
to find out
why why why would you want to go ahead
and do
something come into this thing even
though you don't understand it you see
if they're coming in for the wrong
reasons then you don't want them to do
that you want them to come in for the
right reasons and it should be based on
knowledge basic knowledge how about if
you sort of reason with yourself and say
well perhaps if we give him the Shada
and he enters Islam and then perhaps he
can be cultured around the environment
and slowly develop into a knowledgeable
Muslim would that justify you g giving
him the
sh I don't believe so that is the
rationale
used by you know some people whose dawa
techniques is to go into poor
areas right and you buy cheap watches
from Taiwan or whatever and you offer
these watches you say would you like a
watch yeah yeah people gather on them
okay you just raised your hand and
say I'll give you a watch so you find
all these people do it after that you
tell them you're all Muslims now and you
tell the Muslim Community okay these are
a bunch of new Muslims take care of them
and you're
gone no we don't accept this is not
acceptable
da you know the Declaration of faith we
know the first condition for its
validity is that it be based on
knowledge if it's not based on knowledge
it it has no validity it may become
valid later on or whatever that's not
when I'm denying what could happen later
but it is at that time
invalid to what extent must the
knowledge
of the extent that they know who Allah
is he had no father no son Etc they at
least know and they accept that yes
Allah is one unique in his Oneness etc
etc basic they accept that Muhammad
wasallam was a messenger of Allah the
last messenger of Allah and it's enough
maybe they haven't read all about
Muhammad wasallam to say yeah n but you
say if you accept the
Quran you accept the
Quran right as being the truth you read
it you convinced by it or the system of
Islam you recognize this had to have
come from God then by you accepting that
it had to have come from God you're
accepting the one who brought it had to
have brought it from God so you can
accept without knowing the details of
the prophet's life that the prophet mhm
wasallam was the last of the messengers
by accepting the system of Islam or the
Quran as being from God and that is the
basis for the
shahada knowledge of the pillars of
Islam and the pillars of IM I mean these
are things that you can inform them
about but if a person uh is coming in
and you know they say well I I don't
know if I can pray five times a day
maybe I can pray once or
twice you can give him shahada you can
give him Shada and you say and of course
you work on it you know the goal is to
pray five times a day I mean you know
that this is what is required of you and
you do it as much as you
can saying is the most important thing
is that sincerity first that the person
even though he might not have a complete
knowledge of Islam but he might have
just one point which made him sincere
out of sincerity to accept Islam so the
most important thing would it be the the
sincerity or the knowledge which well um
okay brother is asking the issue of uh
sincerity and knowledge because of
course when the scholars describe you
know the realities for validity of
shahada after knowledge they usually put
sincerity come it's really among the
conditions there's sometimes seven eight
different conditions Scholars have
identified
but when you look at them they're
usually ranging between knowledge and
sincerity things related to them
evidences of sincerity the love and the
commitment and all these other things so
the issue of sincerity yes I mean that
is uh between that individual and Allah
sincerity is not something you can
judge whereas knowledge is something you
can judge either they have understood
that Jesus was not the Son of God or
they they haven't that's is something
you can judge and say okay you can go
ahead and make shahada but can I say no
is he really
sincere see that's something inside his
heart so that is a condition between him
and Allah or she and herself and Allah
whether that shahada is valid or not but
for us when we're going to give the
shahad is enough to deal with what is
what is obvious what we can judge so the
knowledge that they make this really the
primary
condition um just like to ask the the
the two Concepts between equality and
justice and since there's some distin
distinction distin distinction made
there if you can comment on that cuz
I've uh what I've heard is that there is
no equality in the sense that is in the
western sense but what there is is
Justice I don't know if you can com on
that well uh brother's question
concerning uh the issue of equality and
justice in Islam uh marriage uh
situations uh from an Islamic
perspective Ian this usually comes up in
the case of
polygamy equality and justice you know
equality and fairness where equality
establishes Justice then that's is what
is
required where equality becomes unfair
then that is
cancelled and we focus on fairness
meaning a man has two
wives he spends one day with one wife
one day with another another wife that
is equality and that is just and
fair one wife has 10 kids the other wife
has no kids he gives both of them the
same amount of Maintenance money that's
equality but that's
unfair I think the point is clear in
that
context in terms of human beings in
society males and females are equal
before God in terms of their
responsibility to worship
God but uh in terms of what is required
of them it will be according to their
Natures according to their
abilities so it will not be equally
required of them women will be excused
from some things males are not excused
from uh um women may be not required or
required to do some things males are not
requ required to do you know so there is
we don't talk about equality from that
perspective but uh what God has deemed
fair or just from each individual this
is what is required of
them and even in the society in which we
say okay it's a among males themselves
are all males
equal yeah they're equally responsible
before God but are they equal no males
are not all equal you know some are more
intelligent than others some are
stronger than others you know some we
have some are richer than others people
are on different levels really people
are not really equal they're only equal
in terms of their responsibility to
God what is the ruling of a sister who
wears nikab and has to teach students
aged up to 16 years old considering some
of them are
male well
um the issue of teaching uh males for a
female standing in front of males
teaching males is not uh a good
circumstance islamically she shouldn't
they should be below puberty if she's uh
going to be teaching them males
otherwise she should just be teaching
females um but in a circumstance where
she's the only one able to teach that
particular circum uh text whatever or
material you know exceptions can be made
and um some arrangements should be made
in terms of uh the seating arrangements
and these kind of things to keep the
males at a
distance
otherwise as we said as a general
principle uh
females uh teaching males above the age
of puberty would not be uh permissible
because of the fact
that it is drawing attention to
themselves the the tendency for people
is to uh look at those people you know
who are teaching them and uh there's a
particular prohibition with regards to
males and staring at females there is
some relaxation in regards to females it
is not held in the same light as males
because of the
consequences and because of the
difference in the
natures the other point I just like to
remark on this question which came to me
is it has 786 on the top of it and um
you should just take note that 786 does
not
mean in fact the writing of
786 is considered to be B an
innovation it is
numerology numerology is a
prohibited uh science or art you know
in fact
786 could
mean that there is no God and Muhammad
Ali wasallam was not a messenger of
God because you're depending on the
meanings of let the the you're giving
values to letters saying that Al if
equals 1 b equals 2 T ABJ g equals three
Dal equals 4 and so on so forth and then
you're adding it all up to get you 786
but I could contrive a sentence in
Arabic which says there is no
God you know God is uh materials and it
add up to 786 so this is why this is not
valid in the first place and in the
second place I said it's a part of the
numerological system uh which was
devised by the
Jews Muslims adopted it from the Jewish
practice of this is where the cabala and
the working their calculations come from
basically um you spoke ear on for
example the Islam white when women get
husb go back to their
H then financially support them however
what in the case where they don't have
either say a father or a brother or
someone who will not financially support
them under Islamic law what what is
available to the world well as a prophet
sallam said said that he is the guardian
for one who has has no
Guardian right that um
he provides mainenance and he
inherits that the woman who has no
Guardian than the
state and the representative of the
state who would be a judge or whatever
or if it's a community the
representative of the community becomes
the guardian for that woman and uh they
through that Guardian she would be
looked after and if she died and left
something behind the state or the
community would inherit that and
distribute it according to
need is that
clear however if um in say for example
in today's society
um say I mean theate cannot necessarily
always fing the C at somebody in terms
of providing housing in terms of
providing certain financial support
because she may in certain cases be
limited to what she receives it may not
be sufficient or
her well since this question about
today's society where the state may not
be able to sufficiently look after her
well this is why we have I mean when
we're talking about the state we're not
obviously not talking about this state
we're talking about the ideal Islamic
State we're talking about ideals and you
know idealistic principles or how it
functioned in the time of the prophet
mhi wasallam what what would happened
for people who had no relatives and they
were taken care of the state would find
the means to take care of them they
would be given priority through the zaka
the zaka would be used to help to take
care of them uh um also you have as a
norm in many Muslim communities you have
charitable organizations these
organizations would be brought to bear
to help the state if the state can't you
know to make up for what falls the state
falls short on so there are instruments
within the the Muslim Community which
should look after them but I mean of
course you know if we say
today
England no State communities hardly
taking care of themselves their needs
now what about a woman in the
circumstance
well in this circumstance obviously uh
you know she will not be looked after as
she should be you know and um all kinds
of other things are happening you know
um men who should in certain
circumstance take the children don't get
the children and so there's a number of
other things which are happening here
which we can't address from a legal
perspective I mean each case would have
to be dealt with on its own Merit you
know uh and uh if for example a uh a
woman say was married to a non-muslim
she accepts Islam and she divorces her
husband he doesn't want to accept Islam
and she doesn't you know she chose to go
According to Islamic law and separate
from him onto divorce and the state is
going to give her
money from his money and she has no one
to look after her should she take that
money is a ruling of this state yeah in
her circumstance yes if she has another
circumstance where she has means she is
being taken care of since she can forgo
it but where that need exists there and
there is no other
Alternatives then that is her right
given by the state she can take
it so as I said it would we'd have to
look at it on an individual basis and um
what we're speaking about are basically
ideal circumstances in the Muslim
communities any uh further question on
that okay
once a man has declared divorce can he
change his mind after is this the
purpose of the 3 months waiting period
yes that's one of the purpose