[Music]
what about is there a true religion does
it really matter what I believe
as long as I sincerely believe it is
there a problem if I am sincerely wrong
are all religions the same most
religions claim that they alone are
correct and all others are false they
cannot all be right since each claim
that all the others are wrong how then
as the seeker of truth choose the right
way is there any way to identify the
true religion
Hey ladies and gentlemen salamualikum'
Oh Angela I'll greet you peace and
blessings it the mercy of God Almighty
and we welcome each and every one of you
of the game we thank you for coming to
our program and that you have showed us
your seriousness about our topic I'm
very grateful that so many people have
come and we can say it is the topic of
the day and it's very different really
what is the message of Islam compared to
what you will see on CNN or some of the
different programs today in the news my
name is Ahmed cleaver I'm a volunteer
for Qatar get center and with no more
further ado I introduce you brother
dr. bilal philips
[Applause]
I'd like to welcome everybody this
evening by first praising God law and
wishing his peace and blessings on all
of the prophets the true prophets of God
now the topic that we're looking at this
evening though it is entitled the true
religion of God I would like us to
reflect on whether there is or could be
a true religion of God because for most
people in the world today this is a
question in terms of belief in God most
people do believe in God in spite of
what we hear in terms of atheism and how
atheism was spread whether in the
capitalist
element of the world or in the communist
side
recent polls and I have a poll with me
from Reader's Digest where they did a
survey in over 14 countries in Europe
and there they found that really seven
out of every ten Europeans believed in
God not only that but in Poland which
was among the communist countries they
had the highest number of people who
believed in God 97% of polls believe in
God high on the list behind the polls
surprisingly is Russia 87 percent Russia
the home the birthplace of communism
which denies God's existence which is
carried on that atheist attitude is
carried on today in China very strongly
Russia has opened itself up and in
opening itself up it is opened itself up
to religion
so the reality is that the majority of
people believe in God even among
scientists polls taken among scientists
in the West show that the majority of
those who are involved in the Natural
Sciences astronomy geology these types
of Sciences where you're actually
looking at the creation the world the
majority believe in God actually where
we find this belief this is mostly in
the area of those who are in what we may
call the pseudo-sciences sociology
psychiatry we're calling them Sciences
but really it's a lot of ideas there's a
little bit of science there and a lot of
theories and concepts which are not
necessarily based on the real world
amongst the psychiatrists psychologists
this belief in God is very high whereas
as I said the those were involved in the
Natural Sciences we find their belief in
God is very high so having said that the
issue is not really about is there a God
the main issue is about whether God
revealed his word to human beings is
religion something concocted by human
beings or is it something which God
actually did reveal what we find when we
look back at the poll again is that of
those who believed in God
just a little over a half of the
Europeans believed that there was a life
after death and about 43% said religion
was necessary to distinguish between
good and evil
what's that saying it's saying that as
we as we can commonly hear among people
that the belief in God may be there but
organized religion the belief in
organized religion is very weak people
generally don't believe in organized
religion why because there's so many of
them each one of them is saying well
we're the true religion so with all of
this all of these claims they couldn't
all possibly be correct so it's probable
that they're all part they're all wrong
this is the easy conclusion of course
there's another conclusion that one may
be correct and all the others are wrong
and today actually this is not
considered to be politically correct for
one to be holding up his religion or her
religion and saying this is the correct
religion what people prefer today
generally is tolerance everybody says
it's okay you have your beliefs I have
my beliefs everybody has their beliefs
it's all good but the reality is that if
there is in fact one true religion then
for that one religion to compromise and
say well it's all okay you can believe
whatever you want to believe that would
be treacherous that would be false would
so if there is one true religion then
that one true religion has to say this
is the true religion now if we go back
to the creation of the world God created
the world
those who say there is no religion no
real religion they say well God created
the world and left it to run on its own
people just have to find their own way
actually if we stopped and looked at
that thought for a minute one would have
to say that that's not very reasonable
in fact if we think about a God who
would do that we'd have to say that that
God wasn't very smart that's where we
would end up because if God created this
world and didn't inform the creatures of
the world what they're supposed to do
here how are they going to find their
way imagine
we set up a factory we put an
advertisement in the newspaper for
people to work in the factory and they
come but we don't tell them what they're
supposed to do in the factory they all
come in we promise to pay them whatever
they all come in and we let them do
whatever they want to do in the factory
what's going to happen with that we're
going to have a successful factory know
everyone who works in the factory has to
have a drop job description he has to
know or she has to know what is their
job here if they don't know then the end
result is chaos chaos that's on our
scale our common sense would tell us
that you need to tell people what they
need to do in the factory and if we set
up a company in which we didn't do that
people would say what a foolish
individual they was foolish he wasted
his money so if we can accept that on
our own scale imagine that on the scale
of god this is what in fact we are
saying if we're saying that God created
this world and left it to run on its own
without informing human beings what
they're supposed to do here so common
sense tells us
that God must have informed his
creatures what they're supposed to be
doing here the very first people who
were created Adam and Eve or whatever a
religion may call those first people the
point is from the time that God created
the first human beings even if you said
that his creation was by way of
evolution and that's a whole nother
discussion but God created human beings
through evolution really she said that
still you ended up with human beings
God's creation those human beings the
first human beings had to be instructed
as to what they were to do in this world
that makes sense so God revealed
religion to the first of his creation
now that religion of course being one
God one world one set of human beings
was one religion he didn't really reveal
to those early human beings a variety of
different religions no because that
would again imply that God was the
author of confusion he himself right
from the get-go was creating confusion
there's no clarity here so God revealed
one religion one way the question is
what is that one way and where is that
one way today
all of us are born in families not of
our own choosing I was born in Jamaica
my father was presbyterian my mother was
a glycan I didn't choose to be born in
Jamaica to parents of those faiths and
everybody we can say is in the same
situation nobody chooses where they're
born whom they're born to so when we
look at the issue of religion if we
accept that there must be religion and
there must be a true religion God did
reveal religion religion meaning a way
of life a set of instructions which
would guide human beings through life if
we accept that this is the case then we
need to know what that religion is and
to find that religion we have to be
open-minded we can't find it and find
the truth about it if we are going to
come from the position that I am a
whatever and I'm born that whatever and
I'm going to die that whatever that's
what my parents did that's what I'm
doing no you know when we go into
business we don't treat business like
that when we are going to set up a
business for ourselves we research we
check out what people did before and we
don't limit ourselves to what they did
we take the good of what they did we
reject what is not useful and we try to
carve a correct way for ourselves we
don't do it by way of
uh you know custom we don't say you know
I'll do this business this way because
that's how it's customarily done well
you might do that and your business may
succeed to a certain degree but if you
are not innovative if you're not looking
for the best way then your business is
not likely to succeed it's not likely to
grow and to expand etc so we take
business very seriously but when it
comes to religion we tend to be relaxed
no big deal maybe when I get old and
gray I'll start thinking about religion
seriously know who knows who gets old
and gray we have this is not there's no
certainty here we cannot state with
certainty how old we live to religion is
serious business of course those who say
religion is a problem because it's a
popular myth widespread in the world
today that religion is the cause for all
these Wars you know religions are always
fighting each other and killing each
other in all these kinds of things oh
yes we did have the Crusades there was a
religious war terrorism we had that but
if we compare the numbers of people who
died in the Crusades the various
Crusades and that was you could call it
basically a world war of religion
compare that to World War one and World
War two how many people died
insignificant the major Wars the major
loss of life today is not over religion
at all world war one world war two were
not fought over religion so this is the
myth let's put that myth aside come back
to what is the true religion how are we
to find this religion that religion
should have some characteristics if we
said that there is a true religion then
it should have some characteristics and
it's back through those characteristics
that we will know what in fact is the
true religion what I will present to you
now because the number of religions in
the world are many and though I have
studied a variety of many different
religions comparative religious studies
I've been involved in however to try to
tackle it from the position of all
religions today this evening it would be
impossible so what I'm going to look at
with you now is the characteristics of
one particular religion that is the
religion of Islam it claims that it is
the true religion as Christianity claims
as all of the religions virtually claim
that they are the true religion no
different in that respect and what we
need to do is to look at the claims ok
Islam makes a claim let's see what is
the evidence for your claim and then we
put it on the scale of humanity does
this religion fill the slot or fill the
criteria for a true religion the true
religion of God or not
this is the question which we need to
ask for ourselves whatever religion were
involved in look at the arguments look
at some of the other religions look at
what their arguments are and then come
to a conclusion for ourselves don't
depend on parents don't depend on
society in the sense that simply because
I was born here this is what I believe
in
no each and every one of us should make
the choice ourselves so now if we look
at the characteristics of the true
religion and we start off with the name
of the religion itself
Islam Islam is unique in that it is not
the name of a person it's not the name
of a place or the name of a people it is
the name representing the essence of the
religion itself the essence being
submission to the will of God that is
the essence of Islam that's what Islam
means submission to the will of God so
what does that mean in practical terms
that means then that Islam cannot be
inherited because submission is a
spiritual intellectual emotional choice
you can't inherit that each and every
one has to make the choice for
themselves and the name of the religion
is found in the scripture itself it is
not something which people chose here is
after they gave it a name somebody
somewhere down the line said or let's
call this
religion Islam no in the scripture
itself and again this is something
unique when you go into the scripture as
the other scriptures you'll find the
names are not there these names were
given by others later points in time but
you'll find right there in the scripture
the fifth chapter verse 3 this day I
have perfected your religion for you
addressing humankind completed my favor
this is God speaking upon you and I have
chosen for you
Islam as your religion Islam meaning
submission to the will of God submission
this was the religion which was revealed
to the first human being because if
somebody were to ask well could the
first human beings have been Christians
but Christ wasn't around could they have
been Buddhists well Buddha wasn't around
and so on and so forth
Islam doesn't depend on Muhammad may
God's peace and blessings be upon him
and upon all the prophets it doesn't
depend on him it is the religion of God
to humankind furthermore God States
third chapter verse 85 if anyone desires
a religion other than Islam it will
never be accepted of him any other
religion where people do not follow the
commandments of God they are not
submitting to the commandments of God it
will not be acceptable to God no matter
what they do no matter what charitable
acts or or generous acts the
they do that will not put them in good
stead before God if they have not
submitted themselves to God God's
commands now if we go on past the issue
of the name of the religion itself and
we shift over to the relationship
between God and His creation if we are
commanded to submit our wills to God
then it means that we should be
worshipping God alone the religion the
true religion should instruct human
beings to worship God alone not to
worship anyone else no other human being
nothing in the creation because no one
no thing can help us can benefit us
besides God ultimately nothing will take
place nothing will benefit if God's
permission isn't there so the essence of
will the relationship between human
beings and God should be one of worship
worshiping God alone and this is the
essence of the teachings of Islam even
in the case of Jesus in the Quran God
says
with regards to Jesus and behold Allah
the Arabic name for God will say on the
day of judgment oh Jesus son of Mary
did you say to people worship me and my
mother as gods besides a law and he will
say glory to you I could never say what
I had no right to no right to say that
is submission aslam teaches that all of
the prophets taught the same thing
submission to God any human being who
calls others to worship Him who claims
that he is God or has God within him has
deceived human-beings misguided them
taken them away from the true religion
of God so the essence of worship in
Islam can be found in the first chapter
known as the fatiha the opening chapter
verse number 4 you alone do we worship
and from you alone do we seek help that
is the essence of the message
worshipping God alone seeking help from
him alone and as I said this is the
message of all of the prophets God says
in the Quran and your Lord says call on
me and I will answer you God is the one
who answers prayers yes people might say
well when I worship so-and-so
or this and that my prayers are answered
this is part of the test of life people
raise their hands all over the world and
they pray to a variety of different
things and some of their prayers are
answered this is the part of the test of
this life reality is that only God
answers prayers regardless of what
people pray to only God answers prayers
so the essence of the message of all of
the prophets all prophets were sent
coated there in the scripture the Quran
sixteenth chapter verse 36 assuredly I
have sent among every people a prophet
with the command worship allah and avoid
false gods that was the message which
all of the prophets brought to human
beings worship God alone if we go back
to the shared belief amongst two thirds
or two fifths of humankind close to
three fifths that the first human being
Adam and Eve were in a garden and they
were given one instruction each from all
of the things of the tree in the garden
except from one tree islam speaks of
this this is the command of god don't
eat from that tree obedience to God
submission to God was what they were
called to do
and that's a mirror of life in general
today that God has commanded us to do
certain things and forbidden us from
others what tends to happen today is
that people have taken the forbidden
things as being the source of fun and
pleasure and they say that you religion
especially Islam you make life so
difficult a person can't enjoy himself
or herself you can't do this you can't
do that you can't do the other you can't
eat this you can't drink that and all
this you can't do this
why well reality is that for every can't
do there are thousands of can dues but
what happened is that forces within our
world have made the few can't do is the
most precious the most beloved the
things that we feel life is incomplete
without these can't do we shouldn't be
doing these have been promoted in the
media and that's why when we look at
religion especially at Islam it appears
to be so restrictive but reality is that
it is in fact really not restrictive at
all it is protective so having looked at
the essence of the message which is
summarized in the declaration of faith
la ilaha illallah there is no God worthy
of worship but Allah from that as the
Prophet said anyone who says there is no
true God besides Allah and dies holding
that belief will enter paradise that is
the reward
for those who have accepted that belief
in their lives
have lived according to that belief
acceptance of the belief and living in
accordance with the belief now if we
look on the other side we talked about
the true religion and it's some of its
characteristics there are a few more and
I will touch on them but before going on
there is a message which false religion
promotes which teaches and it is the
opposite of what I spoke false religion
basically calls human beings to worship
God's creation instead of God the
Creator isn't worshipped but his
creation is worship instead of course
the creation will be called the Creator
through a variety of philosophical
arguments it will be explained that yes
it does look like you're worshipping
creation but in fact you're worshiping
the Creator but common sense if one just
stops for a minute and looks at what's
going on common sense tells us we are in
fact worshiping God's creation and not
God so that is the essence of false
religion and this is why the quran
addresses false religion in general
saying the 12th chapter verse 40 that
which you worship besides him besides
God are only names and you and your
forefathers have invented should be
names that you and your forefathers have
invented for which Allah has sent down
no authority the command belongs only to
Allah he has commanded that you worship
Him that is the right religion but most
men meaning human beings do not
understand
this is the challenge we've all been
commanded to worship God alone as God
says in the 51st chapter I've only
created the jinn and human beings that
they may worship me this is the purpose
of creation human beings worshipping God
worshiping God alone so we have to be
aware of the message of false religion
in general which calls us away from the
worship of God to the worship ultimately
of his creation if we go on further to
other characteristics of that true
religion that forgiveness salvation lies
in the hands of the individual God will
forgive sins and there is no need for
any intermediary between ourselves and
God since we're worshipping God alone
then he can forgive our sins we can save
ourselves by ourselves by turning to him
in repentance there is only one
unforgivable sin and that is to worship
other than God verily Allah will not
forgive the joining of partners with him
but he may forgive sins less than that
foams wherever he wishes that is the
ultimate sin that is why when a person
asks well someone saw was a good person
he does good things he you know it's
helpful to people and so on somebody
doesn't believe in God isn't it still a
good person why should he not get a good
life in the life to come why do you say
he is going to be punished he's going to
suffer etcetera because the ultimate sin
the ultimate evil is to worship other
than God if our purpose of creation in
the purpose of our creation is to
worship God and we worship other than
God then what have we done we have
destroyed the very reason for our
creation creation we have lost our way
completely so that is why it is the
ultimate sin but other than that and
even if a person did this it doesn't
mean that they cannot achieve salvation
if a person worshiped other than God
Allah in Arabic and found out and turn
back to God in repentance then they can
be forgiven there is no sin too great
that God will not forgive
regardless forgiveness salvation is in
the hands of the individual not
depending on a priest class you know
certain intermediaries certain things or
objects or people etc between ourselves
and God who will give us God's grace
will give us salvation no it is in our
own hands now there is another issue by
which Islam claims to be the true
religion universality that true religion
if it's the religion of God it should be
universal meaning it should be
applicable everywhere anywhere at
anytime it shouldn't depend on knowing a
particular individual or knowing a
particular place etc no it should be
universal and this is
the essence the teaching that submission
to God is the essence of the religion
that means that whoever wherever they
submit to God sincerely then God will
accept that from them and this is why
you find within the Quran itself again
second chapter verse 62 verily those who
believe among the Muslims and those who
follow the Jewish faith the Christians
and the Sabian's worship stars etc any
of these who believe in Allah the one
true God alone who deserves worship and
the last day that they are accountable
that they have to give an account for
what they did in this life and work
righteousness and they do good deeds not
just say I believe but they actually
live that belief they actually apply
that belief in their lives they shall
have their reward with their Lord they
will not be overcome by fear or grief
paradise will be theirs that is the
promise that is the universal message so
those who followed Moses who followed
Jesus
who followed all of the prophets who
were sent to all nations throughout time
those who sincerely followed them all of
them are considered Muslims Muslim
meaning one who submits his or her will
to
Islam is the submission Muslim is one
who submits so this is the universality
of the message it encompasses all now
what of places
what of places where people did not hear
about the teachings of the prophets the
Prophet himself had said whoever among
the Christians and Jews hears of me but
does not affirm his belief in what I
brought and dies in this state will be
amongst the inhabitants of hell any
prophet who came who conveyed the
message from God he was to be accepted
and followed and whoever rejected him
those who rejected Jesus those who
rejected Moses those who rejected any of
the prophets who were sent throughout
the world whether to India or to China
out to South America or the Philippines
prophets were sent Prophet Muhammad had
mentioned that there was more than
124,000 prophets sent throughout the
world
whoever did not accept the teachings of
the Prophet then they sealed their fate
with regard to the life to come but what
of those people who didn't hear the
message reality is that God has taught
each and every one of us about himself
we have it written in our souls in the
seventh chapter verse 172 there is a
discussion which God describes
when he first created Adam he took from
Adam all of Adam's descendants in the
spiritual form meaning we all were
created at the same time before we came
into this world were already created and
having taken all of Adam's descendants
he said to these creatures all these
human beings jinn am I not your Lord to
which they all replied yes we testify to
it yes we testify to it each and every
one of us at the time of our original
creation we were given knowledge of God
it is in our souls imprinted within our
souls and that's why you find that even
the biggest atheist one who was denied
God's existence throughout his life he's
flying in that 747 he looks out the
window he sees one of the engines fall
off and the plane starts to go into that
dive there is no way out
the end what does he do does he say
tough luck that's life
no you will find him screaming oh god oh
god oh god oh god screaming god's name
even louder than the people who actually
believe in God it comes from himself or
herself instinctively it is imprinted in
the soul of each and every one of us so
what we find is that God made us bear
witness so that we would not say on the
day of judgment that we were unaware of
God and belief in God
nobody has an excuse nobody who is
conscious adult here's a message has an
excuse but one of those people who are
not adult who died as children who lived
in the North Pole they never heard the
message they were what of these
people they were old when the message
came they were senile and it came into
their area so they never heard it
properly or it came to them in such a
garbled form so distorted that there was
no way for them to believe in it
what are these people well the prophet
mentioned that there would be for them a
mini test at the time of resurrection
when everybody is coming back to be
judged by God that they would be brought
back and a message would be given to
them about God and instructions that
they would have to follow those who
follow the instructions will go on to
paradise like those who follow the
instructions in this life those who
don't will go on to hell like those who
rejected it in this life they will have
a mini test which resolves their
situation so no one will pass out of
this world and come before God in
judgment without the message having been
given to them as God said in surah nisa
raw of the night journey
oh my econo-mode Robina at Tanabata a
surah allah will not punish anyone until
the message has been brought to them
the message at the time of pre creation
when we were told about God this was
also so we couldn't blame our ancestors
we couldn't say it's not our fault it's
my parents my grandparents they were the
ones worshipping idols worshipping
others besides God so are you going to
destroy us because of what they did no
we all have choices each and every
person who believes and practices a
false religion God will show them in
their lives what the truth is they will
see it because each child when it is
born into this world is born with a
natural belief in God it is the parents
who or the society or the evil forces
which cause them to go astray but they
are born with that natural belief which
they inherited from the time of pre
creation but as I said in each and every
one of our lives there are signs God has
put signs in each and every one of our
lives whether it is bringing us here to
Doha we lived in another country where
we're not exposed to Islam the only
thing we heard about Islam was terrorism
suicide bombing that is all we heard
bloodthirsty Arabs they love to slit
people's necks and say Allah Akbar but
when we came here we didn't find
anybody's neck being slit nobody's
blowing up anybody life is not so bad
after all
so our coming here that could be among
the signs for ourselves we have been
brought into a circumstance
where we can find out for ourselves what
is the truth of the claim of Islam we
owe it to ourselves to check out to
research to understand all of the
elements of this claim as we owe it to
ourselves to research our own religions
whatever religion we belong to look at
its claims where does it fit in as a
universal religion of God for humankind
so the signs of God are in each and
every one of us or around each and every
one of us as stated in the 41st chapter
of the Quran I will show them my signs
in the furthest regions of the earth
looking at God's creation and in their
souls in themselves until it becomes
clear to them that this is the truth the
signs of God are everywhere so in
closing the scripture the scripture of
Islam the Quran 1400 years has remained
unchanged there are no versions
yes amongst Muslims we have some core
split off you hear about Shiites in Iran
etc and the main body of Muslims they
call Sunni but even when you go amongst
the Shiites do they have another Quran
no there's only one Quran no matter
where you go in the world one Quran and
this is a basic criteria for the
religion of God
but if God has revealed his word in the
scripture specifically as a final
scripture then it must remain pure
unchanged untampered with that is
criteria that we have to look at for
ourselves
laQuan and its message remains as fresh
today as it was when it was revealed
1400 years ago scientists looking at the
crime have pointed out in a number of
verses pieces of information which could
not possibly have been known by Muhammad
may God's peace and blessings be upon
him and upon all of the prophets
information like the development of the
embryo in the room this is described in
the Quran described at the stage when it
the embryo would be invisible to the
human eye is described microscope
necessary to see it what it looks like
it's described so much so that dr. Keith
Moore who wrote the book on embryology
the most commonly used text in
universities around the world in his
main Edition which he wrote and which
was reprinted many many times he stated
that it really wasn't until the
development of the microscope that
people really got to understand what was
going on there in the development of the
human being the embryo then he mentioned
a series of wild stories or ideas that
people had of the past in terms of the
development of the embryo and he said
nobody knew until the development of the
microscope in the 15 16th century
whatever however when the Quranic verses
were brought to him he was asked to
attend
conference and asked to study to go over
certain verses from the Koran with
regards to embryology he after reading
it said that this is an accurate
description which could not possibly
have come from Muhammad may God's peace
and blessings be upon him in the sixth
century there is no way they asked him
so where did it come from
is that from God he was convinced it had
to have come from God no human being
could describe what was described there
and he modified his text later on to
mention that nobody knew what was going
on except as was mentioned in the Quran
amongst the Arabs or they those who
followed Islam that is the book it
contains that side scientific
information which is only in modern
times that people have come to
understand things descriptions of the
world in ways which people a thousand
years ago ago could could not possibly
have understood we have some booklets
here which describe it Quran and modern
science etc we'd like to read up more on
it you may do so but the Quran is not a
book of science it is fundamentally
God's communication to human beings and
this is where the ultimate beauty lies
it addresses every need of human beings
and it describes itself as being a cure
for what is in the hearts we all owe it
to ourselves to read that Quran
the final evidence which I'm presenting
to you this evening with regards to the
true religion of God the claim as made
by Islam each and every one of you I
request that you take an honest and open
look at that message challenge it
question I'm not saying just look at it
and become a Muslim etc know read it
compare it but do so honestly and openly
not with prejudices but with an open
mind let me look at those claims let me
see what I have let me see what other
people have and make an honest and
informed judgment so that is basically
the ultimate message the message of
Islam to each and every one of you a
message which if you are convinced then
we ask you not to hesitate I'm not
saying don't read further but if what
you've heard this evening is sufficient
to convince you you've been reading
already you've been asking questions and
so on so and you're ready then I suggest
to you don't hesitate before we leave
the hall this evening please come
forward and accept the ultimate truth
with that I'll turn the floor over to
you now for your questions as stipulated
in the Quran itself where God Himself
tells us that those of you who do not
believe
all my profits and all my religions that
came before are not Muslims and and I
would like to to point out that I think
the description you gave of what Islam
and a Muslim is as far as I'm concerned
perfect one that's it really captures
the idea let me just clarify one point
though you know that you mentioned that
it's mentioned in the Koran that God has
called people to believe in all of the
prophets of God that's true but then you
mentioned all of the religions but no is
not true because there is only one
religion so there is no place in the
Quran where God says believe in all the
religions no God has said that the
religion perfected for human beings is
none other than Islam so as long as you
put it in that context that well that
was in fact the message of the prophets
then we have one religion that's exactly
what I meant there is and we'd like to
give our non-muslim guests really the
first opportunity you know because there
are a number of Muslims here and I'm
sure there's a lot of points or whatever
you'd like to make but we'd like to give
priority to our non-muslim guests good
evening doctor just to ask you in your
opinion is there a difference between
spirituality and religion and what is if
you would give more information of on
Sufism within Islam thank you okay I
would say that spirituality when you use
the term spirituality you would really
have to come into some definition
because everybody has a different view
as to what spirituality consists of
religion if it is God's religion it will
cover all facets of human existence it
will address all human needs whether it
is spiritual needs
some people may put in a box over here
and say well that's spirituality with it
will also encompass economic needs to
also encompass social needs it should
come encompass all aspects because that
universal religion should not separate
and distinguish between religion and
state statecraft you know we have
politics we have another thing economics
that we do then we have religion on the
side which you know sue these are sold
with sooth our souls with it but then we
have to deal with the real world we have
some other set of principles know the
universal religion must address if it's
from God all aspects of human being
human existence so I would say that true
religion will not be distinct from
spirituality in the sense that true
religion must contain spirituality if
you're saying by spirituality meaning
that it addresses the spiritual needs
that a person devotes an element of his
time or her time to feeding the soul as
the body needs food the soul needs food
I'm doctor just appreciate your general
comment on apparently Qatar has one of
the highest road fatality rates for the
young men in the world and this comment
may be a bit naive but often the
catchcry is its Ella's way in terms of
driving behavior that leads to such high
death rates and just would appreciate
any general comment or views about that
in terms of high fatality rates
obviously this has nothing to do with
following Islamic teachings this is
a product of a lot of wealth a lot of
spare time lack of direction and
unguided youth this combination produces
anywhere in the world where you put that
together you're going to get the same
results so we don't say that is God's
will it's a lot well that this happened
yeah it's a laws will that people die
and so laws will that people live human
beings have invented seatbelts thank you
they have invented you know speedometers
which can tell how fast we're going the
foot brakes on you know and they're a
variety of other things that are there
to make driving on the road safe God
says if you drive the car then you
should say subhanallah de Sahara and AHA
de you know glory be to the one who has
submitted this to me was provided this
for me and I couldn't have done it
myself if it weren't for God's will I
would not be able to drive this car
so I appreciate it as something a gift
from God which I must use in a way which
is pleasing to God not driving at 200
kilometers an hour because surely that's
not pleasing to God at all you know it
might be fun have the wind blowing
through my here and you know all these
other kinds of things but it's dangerous
it kills people so for those who would
justify and I even have you know some of
my friends older friends that's just
kids who will get in the car they don't
wear their seatbelt you know probably
seatbelt you know it's not necessary if
you got to go you're going to go anyway
right but and I used to do it at one
point to then my kids asked me well um
what's that seatbelt for a booyah means
daddy what's the signal first of all
it's supposed to you know protect you
from
from hurting yourself and you have
accidently so why don't you wear it oh
oh good point yeah from that point
onwards I started wearing it you know
that was just a little reminder of me
I'd gotten lazy you know growing up in
this part of the world or aging in this
part of the world you know you can
develop bad habits you know just from
the people around everybody it's gets in
the car no seatbelts you end up doing it
yourself
though back home you know back in Canada
or us whatever you better put on that
seatbelt otherwise you're gonna get a
fine but since the countries here they
were not finding anybody people got in
this habit and I realize that no this is
important one should do that in fact
there was an occasion where the Prophet
may God peace be upon him was in the
mosque and an individual came in to sit
and ask him some questions when he came
inside he recalled oh he had left his
camel outside without tying it up so he
asked the Prophet should I trust in God
or should I go tie my camel right
because the camel if you don't tie him
up he'll be out of here in a second so
the Prophet said to him tie your camel
and trust in God and that's the
essential message where we have ways and
means to protect ourselves to better our
lives that's such a weak take these ways
and means and at the same time after
doing so we know ultimately it is God's
will
what will happen to us in the end so we
have to put our trust in God after that
mr. Pennell Phillips thank you for your
nice true and sincere presentation you
mentioned to terrorism as an accusation
to Islam so I want to say that here ISM
is not Islam at all it is an American
product the state's financed those
people who make this act with twenty
million dollars in Afghanistan and their
allied countries financed it also with
75 million dollars they incite a trade
finance it and brass encourage these
people and turn them to my dogs okay I
think them now okay thank you terrorists
who are killing people with the white
phosphorus depleted uranium and who are
killing who killed millions in Vietnam
in Korea in Japan thanks okay thank you
very much whether the issue of terrorism
that we mentioned we said that this was
a false image which has been put on
Islam and of course Islam does not
support terrorism in any way shape or
form
but at the same time we have to
understand that in some cases one man's
terrorist is another man's freedom
fighter so we have to be able to
distinguish between the two where people
are struggling for legitimate causes in
defense of their rights human rights
that though this may be labeled in the
media around the world is terrorism we
have to understand the realities of it
we don't necessarily justify because of
the legitimacy of that struggle anything
which people do because people in
desperation can do all kinds of things
so though those things may be
illegitimate may be unacceptable at the
same time we need to understand the
roots what has led to this not just
blame this one or blame that one but
look at the root causes of these
situations and then try to resolve it
and to correct it by dealing with the
fundamental issues not the general
cosmetic solutions which are generally
offered excuse me I wonder if you expand
on your previous statement about how
God's well it's imprinted on people's
souls okay
the point that we mentioned I don't know
how much when you said expand on it or
expand on it to what degree
the basic issues have been mentioned
that at the time of our creation we were
given a consciousness of God when a
person comes into this world he or she
comes in with that natural consciousness
when the true message comes to them they
recognize that true message based on
that consciousness the child left alone
would find God in of himself or herself
religion the true religion of God only
provides the guidelines for that child
but the essential belief the recognition
and knowledge of God that is there and
that is why the vast majority of people
in the world believe in God as we said
even in Russia where people for you know
half a century were schooled on the
denial of God's existence that's what
they were schooled on yet once that sort
of barrier the barriers were removed the
restrictions were lifted then we found a
huge upsurge in belief in God people
returning back to trying to find the
religion we have two questions here I'll
answer one first what does Islam say
about Jesus as was mentioned here islam
teaches that Jesus was a prophet of God
as Moses as Abraham as all of the
prophets of God and that is what Jesus
taught that is what his early followers
believed and that's what they lived in
accordance with however in time those
beliefs were changed
they became distorted and the message
became one of worshipping Jesus as God
instead of worshiping the God of Jesus
for the question from our audience
I'd like to ask you two questions if you
in the first part maybe if you can
compare the beginning of Christianity to
the beginning beginning of Islam maybe
the first hundred and 150 years to my
understanding in the beginning of
Christianity there was a lot of people
committing their lives being martyrs
dying without any retribution versus
reminder sinning of Islam where there
was a lot of wars a lot of infighting
and why do you think that God had those
two different approaches then my second
question deals with a statement that you
made earlier about people accepting
Islam freely I'm not Muslim I have lived
in Islamic countries for quite a while I
know that if someone is a Muslim and
even considers another religion there's
problems on his life so I don't
understand if you can accept a religion
freely why can't you leave it freely
okay the first question concerning the
early years of Islam and Christianity
this is historical details of which I'm
I don't know if this is really the place
to go into but it's enough to say that
if we look at the early years at least
the first 40 odd years after Jesus we're
the church the main church in Jerusalem
was headed by James who is referred to
in the Gospels as the brother of Jesus
James who headed some this also refer to
as the first pope he what he believed in
was the same as what islam teaches today
that Jesus was a prophet of God and he
worshiped God and that the religious
instructions concerning that worship
whether it was
not eating pork and a variety of other
you know religious instructions these
were to be followed that is the early
development but of unfortunately he was
himself killed and the center of
Christianity shifted when the Romans
broke up the temple 70 AD and chased all
of the Jews out of Jerusalem and along
with them were what they call the Jewish
Christians christians who externally if
you saw them you would say they were
Jews they were doing the same thing the
Jews were doing but they accepted the
message of Jesus that is the early
development after that then the center
shifted to Antioch where Paul who was in
the process of changing the teachings
took over so that is the early
development in the first hundred years
the change took place in the case of
Islam in the first hundred years the
basic teachings held firm they were not
changed they were not distorted the
basic book of Revelation was protected
copied distributed and the religion
became stronger as it spread within the
first twenty five years from Arabia all
the way to Spain up to Constantinople
into Greece and to into a Persia etc it
expanded with the center still intact
basic teachings still intact so much so
that if we compare what are the
teachings of Islam today with the
teachings that were taught 1400 years
ago what you will find is that they are
the same no change whereas if we can
compare the teachings of Jesus and what
was practice in that early phase to what
is practiced today in Christian
the difference is vast it is vast as to
the infighting that you spoke of I you
need to be more specific when you speak
of infighting where it was I mean there
was there were struggles which took
place within the Arabian Peninsula but
in general the state held together and
expanded Egypt North Africa Lebanon
Syria these areas came into Islam within
those first hundred years and people
chose Islam they were not forced into
Islam the other question that you raised
issue about where a person may think of
becoming a nun non-muslims a Muslim
chooses to follow some other religion
well basically yes family will be upset
people society around them will raise
issues but that's normal in any society
that's normal in any society any society
which has a strong family setup where
this is where the family is broken down
where it's limited now to man wife and a
couple of kids one and a half in some
places then you can do basically what
you want to do you know your thing is
your thing you can believe what you want
to believe and nobody really cares where
the family is strong where there's the
extended family then anybody who goes
against the norm of that group is
pressured is feeling uncomfortable you
know they'll make life uncomfortable for
them for them that's the norm now yes if
you if you said here in Qatar if
somebody was to choose other than Islam
what would happen to them nothing they
could choose to become non-muslims
I've heard of some cases of Qatar is who
have become non-muslims
stop and if you ask me about the Islamic
state what would happen that's a whole
nother issue that perhaps we can discuss
I don't know the point good evening
doctor I have a question is there is a
the title of this program is the truly
the true religion of God and what I
found this message was focused on the
true religion so I would like to ask
what is the difference between the true
religion means I mean our following the
true religion and the trust in God and
the trust yeah in God trust in Allah I
mean just by following this true true
religion is that mean the trust in God
well your question is a little vague I'm
not quite clear on what you're asking
but let's say that trust in God is an
essential part of the true religion that
if one is to believe that there is one
God who created and controls everything
to not trust in that God would be a
failure of belief with regards to the
village in itself so trusting in God no
matter what one does that's what we
spoke about earlier about wearing seat
belts etc that we're supposed to do
whatever is useful and beneficial for
ourselves but in the end we do have to
put our trust in God because nothing
will take place without his permission
and whatever it does take place by his
permission we have to believe that
ultimately it is for good even if we
can't see the obvious good in it you
know that's a part of the trust that we
believe that whatever happens in our
lives because God is good whatever
happens in our lives is for good it
wishes good
the question is how do we utilize that
which has happened usually becomes
problematic when we deal with calamities
how do we utilize those opportunities or
those circumstances to benefit ourselves
and to grow spiritually through the
various trials of life good evening
doctor I want to ask a question that
Muslim is the person who has the
submission of God so the person whom we
call Muslim he is totally submitted on
the wish of God but we see that some
Muslim so anger the Dominator this means
the weaker one so now on the criteria a
person who goes through prayer namaz
five times its jacket goes to hers so
can he be called a Muslim if he
dominates other Souls anger okay if we
look at the issue of sin a person says
he or she believes and does try to do
good does try to be a true believer but
falls into error they do some things
which are forbidden Haram not allowed
sinful does that act negate their faith
when Adam and Eve ate from the tree did
that make them non-believers
no it was only a point of weakness that
was that's the nature of human beings
that they are weak and they will commit
errors but the key is that when they
commit the errors they don't continue in
those areas
that instead they turn back to God and
seek God's forgiveness and that is the
essence of the message there with
regards to Adam and Eve not that human
beings are sinful by Nature no Adam and
Eve were not sinful by Nature they
committed sin out of weakness but as
it's mentioned in the Quran they turn
back to God asking forgiveness and God
forgave them as a result that sin was
lifted from them as the Prophet had said
may God peace must be upon him and upon
all the prophets one who repents from
sin is like one without sin so when a
person commits a sin a person dominates
others as you mentioned or whatever this
does not make them a disbeliever it's an
error and it's the nature of human
beings to her as the Prophet also said
all of Adam's descendants constantly
commit errors but the best of those who
do so are those who constantly turn back
to God in repentance so that's really
the crux of the matter will we repent
correct ourselves and try to do what's
right or will we stay in the sin
continue in the sin and go further and
further away from God a written question
here if a child is born and stays for
one hour the father and mother are not
Muslims then what will be the result of
that child the child dies I assume the
question is as we said that child is
like those people who the message did
not reach the child will be brought back
in an adult form and given a test at the
end of this world
like those people were deaf dumb and
blind those people were or in
places where the message did not reach
them at the time of Resurrection they
will be brought back and tested at that
point by God those who pass the test
will go on to paradise like those who
have passed the test in this life who
lived out for lives this is one question
written here what is the definition of
God God from the Muslim perspective is
the object of worship and the Quran it
says have you not seen the one who takes
his desires as his God
so even desires can become your God if
that is what you follow that is what you
will submit yourself to whatever your
desires tell you to do that's what you
do then that has become your God the
Prophet had said that the worshipper of
the deer ham and the DNR will be
wretched so a person can make his God
money that's what he's focused on that's
the most important thing in his life
that's all he ever talks about or she
ever talks about whenever you sit with
them that's all I can talk about that
becomes their God worship is not just
who you call on but who takes the
central position in your life who guides
you whose guidance you follow who you
focus on in your life this is why
Muslims are prescribed to pray five
times a day to organize their day around
the remembrance of God as the Quran
states Allah be dhikrullah he taught my
Anelka Lube it is only with the
remembrance of God that hearts find rest
and at the same time God says in the
Quran al Khaimah Salah a decree
established the prayer the five times
daily
we're to remember me so the prayer is to
remember God to make that the framework
of our lives and the benefit of
remembering God is that ultimately
that's where the hearts find rest and
that's what we ultimately seek peace
tranquility as a good evening doctor I
like to ask about abortion it's made to
believe by one Shaykh I came across that
Islam allows abortion to a certain
extent whereby when the process is windy
in the early stages when the I mean the
fetus has not been given the rock Islam
allows abortion at that stage is that
true because among very totally against
abortion well in the case of abortion
fundamentally is forbidden it is not
allowable with only few exceptions and
usually the main exceptions have to do
with life-threatening situations for the
mother if there's an ectopic pregnancy
where the child develops it's going to
cause the death of the mother then yes
aborting to save the life of the mother
is permissible but taking life taking a
life in Islam is prohibited even animals
the Prophet may God's peace and
blessings be upon him had instructed the
followers not to make birds their
targets to kill birds for example for
fun for sport the idea of taking the
life of that animal without just cause
this is something sinful in Islam so if
it is not permissible for us to do that
for the animal kingdom then surely for
human beings it becomes even more or
less permissible
more forbidden so I would just say that
abortion as a general rule is prohibited
in Islam and only where there are
life-threatening situations for those
who are ready living that precedence is
given to the life of those who are
living over the life of those who may
come to live
Salaam alaikum doctor waalaikumsalam
this question is addressed to
non-muslims around my question goes this
way what must be the reward of those
non-muslims who have reached the final
decision to adopt his Lama mean will he
be considered newly born in this world
well the Prophet had said that one who
accepts Islam is purified of all their
previous sins that Islam cancels
whatever came before so it's like a
rebirth when a person chooses to accept
Islam it is a form of repentance from
whatever was done before of course where
it involves you know if we have property
of others who have taken illegally then
we can't just say ok I became Muslim I'm
forgiven now I can keep this in carry-on
no these things have to be returned but
other than that where people's rights
are involved
we're just we've done things which
weren't right etc then we are forgiven
all of those so it's a rebirth for that
individual dr. Philips thank you very
much for your lecture I have a question
regarding the obstacles that human
beings usually in faces in order to
accept the message of God be that the
person is a Muslim or even or non-muslim
among the Muslim who are born Muslim
Muslim family when they grow up
reach
don't put usually they have to make the
decision order to continue to be a
better Muslim to believe more in Allah
and find their way or stay the way they
are and sure we know so the obstacle
some people find it that didn't want
accept Islam because that's mean their
forefathers are not there they are in
hell you know and some other reasons
like for the young Muslim maybe to be a
better Muslim he might heart for him
because he had to stop practice some of
the evil things or the wrong things in
Islam so I'd like you to mention what
makes it easy or easier for the person
to go ahead and accept the true faith
the message of God thank you very much I
would just say that if a person
recognized that Islam is the truth it is
the true religion of God then that
person needs to put aside all of the
other obstacles that are there because
in the end whatever they think is a
problem that can disappear anytime but
the real problem is for one to leave
this life having not found and accepted
the true religion that is the grave
danger so we would advise anyone who has
reached that point of grasping what the
true religion is if they have accepted
the idea that it is Islam then we
encourage them not to hesitate but to
come forward and to make their
declaration of faith because we don't
know what is to come when we leave this
hall or tomorrow or next day etc the
other issue concerning young people in
Islam to a large degree
the ignorance of young people today we
have to blame on their parents because
ignorant children generally speaking
come from ignorant parents it's easy for
the parents to say well look at this
child is just disobedient and it's not
and the other blame it on the child but
really when we look at the root of the
problem we find that it lies in the lap
of the parents so I would my advice is
that those of us who are parents here we
have to give our children the priority
give our children the time and the care
to be raised properly understanding
Islam not just imitating and doing what
we do when we do it but understanding
taking Islam to heart living Islam so
that when they reach those teenage years
yes they may shake a little bit but they
have a clarity of understanding which
will get them through and keep them on
the right path
Salaam alaikum question I've met Muslims
who said that it's Haram to shake hands
with a non-muslim and it's not
permissible to say Salaam alaikum or wa
alaikum Salam back to a non-muslim who
says Salam alaikum to a Muslim shaking
hands like they say okay I'm a Muslim
and a non-muslim woman comes up to me
and says Salaam alaikum and some people
say some Muslims say that is not allowed
for me to say while they come Salam back
to the woman because she is not a Muslim
well they say it's Haram some people do
well let's first start with the shaking
hands part there's nothing about in
Islam it says you can't shake the hand
of another woman woman as a woman right
shaking hands of men okay Islam does
have principles here men
the hands of men women shake the hands
of women men may shake the hands of
women who are their close relatives who
they couldn't marry and this is just to
prevent any possible you know trips that
people's minds can go on etc just this
is for protection really and ultimately
for the woman so let's put aside the
shaking hands now the issue of returning
greetings as a general priests principle
we're told in the Quran to return the
greetings with a better greeting so
that's the general principle in Islam
with regards to people's greetings if a
person says I mean there's a general
instruction which the Prophet gave in
his own time may God's peace and mercy
be upon him where some elements in the
society were playing with the word Salam
alaykom right assalamualaikum and
instead of saying as-salaam alaikum they
were saying asam alaikum right now if it
said quickly you can't hear the
difference between the two asam alaikum
means you know may you be poisoned
as-salaam alaikum means may peace be
upon you right big difference between
the two so in that case the Prophet
instructed that if a non-muslim said to
a Muslim what sounded like Salam alaikum
as-salaam alaikum they should respond
they didn't said he didn't say no don't
respond he said respond with walaikum
and also on you so if what you said was
peace be on you then peace be on you too
if what you said was may you be poisoned
or may you be poisoned to Slocombe
doctor they say welcome Sarah I have
this one basic conclusion regarding this
teaching they say what is when Alberti
Allah created Adam and he was put in
ideal place the Jenna but and with one
provision only nor touch don't go to
dead
three and he could not control himself
and went to eat that fruit of dead tree
so and on the punishment he was sent to
the earth so how this human
he was very selected been Prophet he
cannot follow only one instruction all
the Muslims or the mankind can follow
this lot of provisions and instructions
in this world your question then is if
Adam couldn't follow one instruction how
then can the rest of humankind be
required to follow so many instructions
this is the essence of your question how
does God expect human beings with so
many temptations to follow the many
instructions when Adam was not able to
follow even one instruction in an ideal
circumstance
whereas our circumstance is not ideal
well as I mentioned to you that was one
phase of adam's life he came to earth
and there were other tests that he had
to face most of them he passed and some
of them he felt because he was a human
being the issue of the garden and the
single tree this is only a sample of
what each and every individual is faced
with so whether it was one tree or it is
many things the test is still the same
if one has submitted his will to God
committed himself or herself then
whether he has to avoid one thing or two
things or ten things it's still the same
struggle it's still the same effort that
he has to make if he can do it for one
he can do it for two
again 50 can fail for one it can fail
for two so God did not put us in a
circumstance that we couldn't handle as
a stated in the Quran that no soul is
burdened beyond its capacity so human
beings in this world are given like the
garden many trees which are permissible
to them and the few things which are
prohibited I like that one tree the
prohibited things are very few and the
reality is that these prohibited things
are harmful things but we can ask
ourselves look at the child the child
who you tell don't do this or don't do
that you're telling them don't do this
or don't do that because these things
are harmful to them yet when you tell
them don't do it they want to try to do
it
this is the nature but when the child
gets mature and comes to understand that
in doing this there is harm then that
gives the child the knowledge to be able
to restrain himself or herself from
doing those things and that struggle
that internal struggle to overcome one's
desire and to obey God's command is a
universal struggle which every believer
faces whether it is Adam in Paradise as
well as Adam on the earth or it is any
human being up until the last human
being in this world it's the same
struggle what about Christianity is it
the true religion of God - okay if we
say by Christianity we mean the
teachings of Jesus and the way of Jesus
him being the way the truth and the life
as all the prophets represented the way
to God their teachings was the truth and
from that truth eternal life in Paradise
is the consequence then yes the religion
which Jesus taught which those who
followed him in truth was the true
religion it is the same as Islam it is
in fact Islam but if we say by
Christianity we mean Pollyanna T Paul
being the real founder of what is now
called Christianity then we have another
story we would have to say that what
Paul propagated what Christianity has
become today is not the religion which
Jesus taught he taught the true religion
as all the prophets taught the true
religion but human beings strayed they
strayed in the past they strayed in the
present and they will stray in the
future all those who rejected Jesus when
he came as a messenger of God to them
all those Jews who heard the message he
gave it to them and they rejected him
even though yes they still maintained
prayers and fasting and the laws etc
their refusal to follow the messenger
Jesus when he came may God's peace and
blessing be upon him that caused them to
shift from the true religion to now the
false religion and anyone who does that
with regards to any of the prophets
falls by the wayside and has lost their
way with regards to the true religion
can we give a non-muslim the last
question please it's just an extra
comment what you said
muslin non-muslim if they won't
understand Islam to read Quran what is
helping me is to read it once by not
thinking Allah Allah Allah because like
being from America Allah means the God
of the terrorists I read it as Lord God
Lord God I translated just like the rest
of the Quran and it really helps so I
thought maybe my other colleagues could
use it okay where people may be reading
the Quran and Allah has wrong meaning in
their mind that if they just focus on
the fact that Allah is just the Arabic
name for God and if it's easier for them
to visualize it by just going back to
God then to remove the false or
propaganda that is affecting them then
this is her suggestion the other way
though is for us to come to the reality
of Allah because if you saw the passion
of the christ' right the Passion of
Christ where Jesus or the representative
of Jesus was made to speak in Aramaic in
the language of Jesus Aramaic you find
that he used to he refer to God he
called God ilaha that was the term that
Jesus used he never used the term
Jehovah that some people get off into
Jehovah or Yahweh or God he used Allah
ha so hey if we get back to the roots
really what Jesus was saying we
shouldn't have any problem with Allah I
think that was our last question one
more question from our non-muslim King
below I would like to ask you one
question that today I came here and I
understood that the true religion of God
and what I found is in this region of
God we have to do the good and well for
the others and there is a more if as you
told that
people those who devote to God they are
Carlo Muslim yeah that's true as for you
and God will forgive every since
so if it is true that if a for the
Muslim those who come to under God if if
they comes if God forgives sins then why
the people are being killed in the name
of this God I mean to say that if they
do some mistake if they commit any crime
why they are being punished and there is
a punishment for the death penalty and
that I found in most of those country
who are ruled by the Muslim governments
why this happens does I want to be
clarified okay I will try to simplify
that question our guest here was asking
if God forgives all sins
a person who sincerely turns back and
repents to God then why punish him
why have laws to execute the murderer
etc you know why not since God forgives
him why don't we also forgive him
that's quite a logical question but the
point is that the forgiveness of God for
sin is between the individual and God so
a person may commit murder and he or she
may be executed but they had turned back
to God sincerely in repentance and God
forgave them that's between them and God
but between human beings and other
members of the society if there is no
punishment for crimes then what we have
is chaos
we have chaos
if we have to the law of the jungle
right this the the fittest survive if
you're big and strong you can do
whatever you want the weak people are
crushed so we have laws to keep people
in check so the law of executing the
murderer that is to discourage on one
hand people from committing murder
because you will stop and think a little
bit well if I commit murder they're
gonna take my life well maybe I don't
really want to do it that's pretty angry
right now
but hey when I think about losing my
life No
so it makes people think also it is
punishment for that crime a person has
committed a crime against the society as
God mentions in the Koran if a person
takes another person's life unjustly it
is as if they have taken the life of all
of humankind because it it is an assault
on the society no one has the right to
take another person's life
so therefore if a person does it without
justification then the law states that
their life will be taken also as
punishment for the crime that they have
committed with regards to forgiveness
and salvation God will forgive them if
they're sincere but what is going on
between them and God we as human beings
we don't know we cannot judge what is in
that person's heart he could say yes I
have turned back to God and I sincerely
have repented and everything but it's
just the lie we don't know what's going
on in his heart so we say leave the
things between him and God between him
and God but between human beings we have
certain laws to protect the society from
the harm of crime so that's why the laws
are there to protect the society is that
understood that's why we have the
combination of both forgiveness of God
and implementation of
criminal law I think that was our last
question sort of shake that is one more
question from a non-muslim guest okay uh
I have a Bible from my grandma she gave
me in the early in the 50s King James I
have one too
okay and I just wondered if in that King
King James is required reading you know
for Christianity but for Islam what
parts of the King James Bible is okay to
read and what parts is not okay to read
from your perspective because you said
Paul did not convey the teachings of
Christianity correctly so there must be
parts of the Bible that are incorrect
which you know what parts those are
that's my question okay the question
with regards to earlier scriptures in
the Quran it states clearly that those
who believe in a law in the one God
submitted themselves to that one God and
has accepted all of the prophets of God
they must also accept all of the
scriptures which the prophets brought so
reading in the Bible scriptures which
were brought by earlier prophets is okay
however because of that element of
corruption which has taken place over
time then we have as a believer to weigh
the text that we read for example the
Quran speaks about the prophets and
describes them in glowing terms examples
for humankind
God chose a prophet whether it's David
Abraham Moses as an example
of the way God wanted people to live
their lives the best example for those
people so they were as described in the
Quran righteous individuals pure guides
for human beings so when we read in the
Old Testament that prophet locks for
example was made to drink and become
drunk and commits incest with his
daughters and they bear a child by him
we say this cannot be the true scripture
this is Distortion
this is fabrication this is
interpolation that would not make a lot
an example where we read that Solomon in
his old age worships idols Solomon the
prophet of God to receive revelation
calling people to worship one God in his
old age started to worship a whole bunch
of idols we say no there is distortion
here change when we read that David is
all Old Testament David falls in love
with a man's wife and sends the man to
the front lines of the battle to die so
he can commit adultery with his wife we
say ah this is not the prophet of God
this is these are lies which have been
fabricated against the prophets of God
but where we hear read here or Israel
the Lord your God is one God he alone
shall you worship we say that's the
truth that's the truth so we can weigh
what is correct from the Bible by
understanding the Quran it is the pure
scripture which has not been distorted
or changed so it is a valid yardstick to
judge what is acceptable and authentic
and reliable from the Bible and what is
not okay
that's it okay I'm okay before we close
again we had mentioned here if there's
anybody in the audience who is convinced
that the message which has been conveyed
this evening is the truth and they want
to be become a Muslim just please put up
your hand and we'll have somebody come
and take your name and make arrangements
for you to accept Islam formally is
there anybody in the audience who has
come to visit with us who is ready to
make that choice that decision please
don't feel shy we don't mean to put you
on the spot okay we hope that you make
the right decision before it's too late
with that we have our brother we'll
close the session please come forth
thank you it was a pleasure and I hope
to see you again in future talks slap
slam alaikum wa rahmatullah wa lillahi
rabbil alameen wa sallahu wa sallam ala
rasulillah I have the placentas cough
delivering a what of thanks to this
great gathering here I am deeply
thankful to Allah subhana Allah the one
and onl only Almighty God to make us a
part of this important occasion and for
making this seminar a success him
gorilla I trust that we all had a
thought awakening evening and that we
will leave this occasion fully aware of
the responsibilities that personas in
searching finding and accepting the
ultimate truth from the God Almighty
first of all my very thanks to dr. bilal
philips for kindly exceeding to give us
a lecture and a presentation on the most
relevant subject the true religion of
god indeed he has made clear the subject
and it is appreciated
tha Jason Lou Herrin my dear vulnerable
guests ladies and gentlemen each one of
you deserve a special word of great
for attending tonight similar and an
active interactive session for making it
memorable thank you for taking time out
of your very busy schedule to be here
with us tonight
I'm sure the seminar will help
crystallize your thought process on the
subject and now it is up to each one of
us to select or deny the truth to win or
lose the ultimate success in this life
and the most important eternal life of
hereafter maybe use this open
opportunity to convey our gratitude to
the sponsors of this program and we pray
Allah the most beneficent to accept this
Sadaqat interior from them and give them
rewards I also want to give special word
of thanks to my brothers in Katherine
Denise llahi Center and Cather gas
center for putting their maximum effort
and prayers to bring the program a great
success may allah reward as ol+
but of course not least our sincerest
thanks to our sister organizations like
marcus Venetta mia sri lankan modulus
filipino brothers and Sheraton hotel
especially mr. harlot the Hamad and
printing press mr. Anwar and all those
brothers and sisters worked behind the
curtain may Allah accept this from us
and reward us once again thank you all
and we look forward to your continued
interest in Islam as we understood that
conveying this message of truth is
compulsory on us thank you very much and
thank you all Salaam alaikum wa
rahmatullahu Barakat
[Music]
Ujala convinced it was enlightened by
the word islam which was discussed with
the speaker that it is a pro religion
yeah and i realized that the really
islam is a true religion because in
truth i am i am christian by faith and i
read Bible in our books that i recall
from the box of genesis according to the
box of genesis that all those people all
those profits before submitted to god
like abraham isaac david and solomon
dissipated to God and I realized that
this Islam belief is a true religion and
I was also satisfied with the
explanation of the speaker which is dr.
de lisle Philip and he is a very good
speaker he clearly explained about the
box of quran that's all
or they'd like to thank the organizers
of this event for having this event
tonight it was an excellent event it was
enlightening it was fun
gave me the opportunity to hear what
people thought about Islam and also to
reflect about Islam I being a convert to
Islam nine years ago was in the same
place that some of the people who are
attended here tonight are in I had to
think and make these same decisions that
some of these those people who attended
tonight have to think and make a make
decisions on I think that the questions
that they they voiced in the I think
some of them were very precise and I was
really encouraged about those people who
mentioned who gave naseeha about reading
the Quran about what they thought about
Allah and about asking questions on even
about the Bible as to which parts of the
Bible are permissible to read or in
which parts to the Muslims agree are
acceptable these showed that a lot of
the people who are attending the lecture
tonight had a lot of thought that they
were actually thinking that they were
investigating that they were searching
and things like this I was glad to have
the opportunity to to be here to hear
that and also to make acquaintance with
some of them to shake hands with some of
them and to change names phone numbers
information and to continue inshallah
and just living our lives as human
brothers and
and sisters and guides to Islam which is
they know the true religion of God
hamdullah was very good presentation and
dr. Patel gave brief about Islam and it
was very good handle and I get I got
benefit from this lecture how to call a
nanny if some question raised to me from
non Muslim I can answer this question
and handala is what I can say I attended
the dr. bilal philips program this
evening and I found it really to be very
useful indeed a number of grand Muslims
attended as well as Muslims and what I
very much liked about the program this
evening is that it really addressed
people's concerns about Islam's or lack
of familiarity with Islam in a very
logical manner it also took the audience
step by step to show them how is it that
Islam is indeed the true religion it
also explained that Islam recognizes all
of the prophets that came before prophet
muhammad sallallahu Salam may God's
peace and blessings be upon him and
peace and blessings be upon them as well
and how is it that the Muslims are also
asked to believe not only in Prophet
Muhammad's message but also in all of
the messages and scriptures that the
previous message that the previous
messengers came up with it explained
that the problem is that the previous
scriptures got subject to a lot of
distortion and this is why how do you
judge which parts of the previous
scriptures that
some of it exists today is true or not
we use the Koran as the art stick to see
how much of those scriptures that are
left in people's hands today are the two
teachings of these prophets or not I
believe that the program was very useful
indeed
and it demonstrates the greatness of
Islam and that Islam is indeed the true
religion are you among those people
today who are honestly seeking truth
about the true religion of God if you
are not you should be as our spiritual
existence is far more important
ultimately than our physical existence
there are hundreds of religions in the
world today and no one is born in the
religion of his or her own choosing
every religion or philosophy claims to
be right and in most cases the only true
path to God
obviously these claims cannot all be
simultaneously true since they
contradict each other God has given
everyone a mind and an intellect to seek
the truth and to make the crucial
decision of choosing the right path it
is a fact should always be kept in mind
that one can only determine the true
path by putting aside emotions and
prejudices which often blind us to
reality