[Music]
Alhamdulillah.
forch.
uh firstly to um bear patience with this
discussion because I wasn't scheduled to
deliver this session. Um so basically
we're going to talk about um
the the charact characteristics of the
the one calling to the way of Allah
subhana tala
who is the best of those in speech or
who believes in Allah and calls to the
way of Allah subhana wa ta'ala that is
the best one in front of Allah subhana
wa ta'ala so you find that a is the
plural of
of character and is the characteristics
that everyone needs to have in their
life and so we're going to twist it
around today we're going to talk about
those characteristics which are specific
to the the one who is calling to know if
Allah subhana tala and then tomorrow
which was the original lecture about the
importance of the Muslim character in
one's life and in relationship to the
five pillars of Islam how they encourage
one to behave morally upright that all
of the pillars if we look at them we
studied them in great detail
and al etc and even the shahada
shows that there's an importance a
strong link between the characteristics
or the pillars of Islam and one to
rectify one's character, one's behavior.
Today's discussion will be the more
specific um characteristics of the one
who is calling to the way of Allah
subhana wa ta'ala. And that's why we
find many a hadith of the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
talking about rectifying one's character
and one's behavior. That's what you
find.
Allah guide me to the best of character.
It's something which the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
would pray for. And this hadith has been
narrated by Im Muslim. Likewise find in
a narrated by
I seek refuge from you Allah subhan from
the evil characteristics to behave in an
ill manner and bad actions and to follow
one's false desires. Likewise, you find
in another famous hadith narrated by
Imam Ahmed
Allah beautify
just like you've beautified my my
creation or my my body and my my looks
etc.
So likewise beautify my character and
that's why we find that there's a strong
link between character and one's the way
the one has been created as we will
mention tomorrow inshallah and likewise
find other such a hadith talking about
perfecting of one's character. The most
famous hadith which has been collected
by im Malik in his mat in his famous
collection of hadith we find and
narrations as well in
that verely have been sent to perfect
the noble character and behavior that
the whole sending of the prophet
Muhammad was to perfect one's character
and one's behavior and we will analyze
this hadith tomorrow as well inshallah
in comparison to the ayat inside the
Quran as well talking about that he has
been sent down to the believers
to make tia of them. So we find that the
Muslim he's not just a Muslim but he's a
he's a Muslim and one who is calling to
the way of Allah subhana tala. So
character is something which concerns
all of us. But certain characteristics
concerns those people who are specific
to calling to the way of Allah subhana
tala. They need to adopt these
characteristics in their life.
Especially if they're preaching to other
people to be that you a shining example
to other people that they are ones
who've understood the dean of Allahh and
they excelling in that because many
people today they believe in the
rectification of one's one's belief and
that is sufficient and you could be a
person who has
evil character and evil behavior. This
is incorrect. Many of the have written
or a person of strong belief and and
good charact is a person of is a person
of great character and behavior.
Allah subhanah shown goodness to you so
you should show goodness to other
people. The more you understand the role
or the the ayat of Allah subhana t, the
more you understand about and
his names and his attributes and that
what he has told us to do and abstain
from, the more you should be showing the
compassion. Some of the have written
that the names and the attributes of
Allah should be reflected meaning that
he is the most merciful and some of that
mercy should be shown by the creation
towards amongst the rest of human beings
and mankind as well. So we find that uh
is firstly
according to one's
according to your condition or your
state before your statements. So this is
something very very important that
people need to bear in mind that
sometimes many of us are are screaming
and shouting about many important things
whether political issues or economic
issues anything that there may be that's
concerning the Muslim um at the moment
but our condition is separate from our
statements. We don't live up to the
words ourselves and we're busy indulging
in telling other people what to do and
what not to do. And this is something
very dangerous for for a to have to be
especially to be known to be a person
whose actions go against one statement.
And we find that many of the wrote works
about talking about the importance of
like we find
a famous some of these books may concern
you if you study the Arabic language.
Likewise find
as well the same book any perfection of
one's character
and a famous scholar he wrote a work
about that as well
and a whole compilation about how to
behave likewise find
a good character that a person needs to
adopt in their life as well amongst
these characteristics that are specific
to the the one who is calling to Allah
subh isid
is truthfulness in what you are doing.
Oh you who believe it Allah subh
and be with those who are truthful TBA
the 9th chapter verse 119. So sid
truthfulness begins with what? Begins
within
the carrying of this religion because we
find that verily this was given to to
the mountains but they refused to carry
it and like what Insan carried it but he
is verily and he's forever oppressive
and arrogant in what he does. So this is
a great trust. A mana trust was given to
the heavens but they could not bear the
trust. They could not take over this
trust. But Insan decided to take this
trust. So that's why we have to think
about the trust of of being
of being the vice gerant of Allah
subhanah upon this land of conveying the
dean of Allah subhala to mankind and
that's why we find that the Muslim at
the first sid comes in is regarding
belief to rectify one's belief and to
have strong belief in the day of
judgment the belief in Allah the the
angels the books etc and the prophets is
all as we know the the hadith about im
ofam is something that all of us need to
study in great detail to know what a
Muslim believes in before he or she
preaches it to other people. Likewise,
we find
you truthfulness in one's statements
that the statements that the way that
you conduct yourself or the way that you
speak to other people is very very
important that can never be attributed
as being a kib as being a liar. as we
find in the hadith of the prophet
Muhammad that can can a mmin or can a
Muslim be a bil can he be stingy and he
said yes can a mmin be any a a a a a
person who is scared who who's scared of
maybe natural things or some other fear
that they may have and he said yes can a
Muslim be a liar he said no a Muslim can
never ever be attributed to be a liar so
let alone how can a d be called a liar
how can you be attributed in society you
lie whether it be and the greatest can
be to attribute a lie to Allah subhala
and
to say about Allah that which you do not
know or that which is not authorized. So
people need to be careful about the dean
of Allah subhah to say that which is not
true. And likewise the hadith of the
prophet Muhammad
whoever attributes a lie to me then let
him take his seat in the hellfire. So
every single hadith or hadith that one
quotes one should be careful that it has
a strong narration and it's been
authenticated by the where a person is
in doubt then the person should leave
that hadith or say I'm not sure about
this narration forever we find people
who mention ayat from the Quran and they
don't even exist inside the Quran and
say this is a verse inside the Quran
it's not even a verse inside the Quran
this is a hadith of the prophet Muhammad
it's not a hadith of the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam it's
very dangerous so or one calling needs
to know what are the ayats of the Quran
and what are the hadith of the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam and
that's why we find that when the discuss
of the prophet Muhammad they find that
in the beginning of his revelation they
never ever called him a liar they call
him a
majun whatever they call him all these
names it wasn't towards the end that
they began to call him that he's a liar
because in the beginning they knew that
he was als
He is the honest and he's the
trustworthy. So they could not attribute
him as being a liar. It wasn't until a
later stage that they began to attribute
that he was a liar in what he was
saying. But in the beginning he was
known to be the truthful. And likewise
if you read the s in great detail people
like Abu Sufyan when he wasn't when he
was a disbeliever when he had to stand
in front of the king the leader and he
and he could have lied. He could have
clearly lied but he did not lie in that
position because he said behind me were
people who standing there. would testify
whether I was telling the truth or
whether I was lying. So he at that stage
spoke the truth as well. So here the dy
has to be one who speaks the truth
wherever he is whether it's for friend
or foe that you have to stand for the
truth and testify to the truth whether
it be these disbelievers whether we call
them filthy disbelievers whatever we
call them at the moment but to be to be
just
be just and fair because that is closer
to tawa to consciousness of Allah
subhana tala. So if this is that we
should be just to these people how about
to the Muslims around us that we should
forever be just to everybody that that
we deal with especially one calling to
the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
like I define
any truthfulness in the actions that we
do that all of our actions here
truthfulness means that it should be
sincerity every single action that you
do should be dedicated to Allah subhana
tala seeking reward from him all alone
and seeking his face for mana
The end of you find verse number the end
ofah to you not 110 is whoever hopes to
meet Allah subhana tala then let him do
righteous deeds and not commit any don't
associate any partners in actions that
you do and do it sincerely for Allah
subhana tala likewise
he is one that created life and death to
see who of you is going to be best in
action. The beginning of the second
verse here you find that have discussed
that what does it mean
to see which of you does best in
actions. Allah subhah didn't say who
does the most actions he said
whoever does the best actions not the
most and here im
in his
asy he mentions what does it mean that
it is that it is good action that it is
that it is correct and it is sincere
sincere
sinceram
and correct to be upon the sunnah of the
prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam. So here you find that is
important you are sincere in your action
that you're doing and secondly is upon
the sunnah of the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So that is
what im we mentioned about this verse
the verse that I mentioned about
imb mentions the same two conditions
every single action that you do is
sincerely for Allah and secondly it is
upon the sunnah of the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So here's
two great imams, Imawi or imbad and imbn
at two separate times. Both of them are
laying down the same two conditions.
Every single thing that you do sincerely
for Allah subhana tala and the action is
upon the sunnah of the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
We find the secondly and it's something
the of the one calling to wave of Allah
subhan Allah is to have patience and we
find that patience is something any very
difficult in this in this day and age
in verse number 24 that is close to
certainty that both of these go together
that we made these people leaders and
they were guided
command when they had patience
and they believed in our signs. So
strong belief and patience brings you to
become leaders or brings you to develop
people to guide people to the correct
way and that's why he wrote
with patience and with
certainty you will gain leadership in
religion of being in authority. So we
find that if you don't have patience
then it becomes very easy for you to
waver the small amount of problem the
small amount of fitna inside your deen
small amount of temptation you begin to
waver and you lose everything
lose the world and the hereafter as well
because of a lack of patience and that's
why we find
have patience about what these people
are saying
and abstain from them in a beautiful
manner. Make h abstain from these
people. So hey the prophet Muhammad has
been ordered to have sabar upon what
they saying to him what they're
attributing to him what lies they're
saying about him and about the dean of
Allah subhana tala and that's how we
find that this is something for us to
reflect upon look at
that he called his people for 950 years
call him day and night and in the open
in secret and reflect told him to look
upon the signs of Allah
why Is it that you don't seem to have
any fear of Allah subhana tala and he
created you in stages talked about
everything to bring them closer to Allah
subhanaa tala but these people refused
950 years this is what you call the real
sabar of a the one calling to the way of
Allah subhana tala as for our patience
maybe a day or two days or a week or
maximum for a year is the maximum amount
of patience that we have and this is not
the that is not the methodology of the
prophets to follow that we lose patience
quickly but patience should be kept for
a very very long time until we meet
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and that's why we find that some people
they begin to say that to distract the
the one calling to Allah subh by saying
what is it that you're going to achieve
no matter what you say how much you
preach the essence is still there you
the essence of ribba of user is
exists. So a few people of of your
nature standing up and telling people
that this is haram to abstain from it.
What does it mean? And this is something
that these people are trying to waver
people away from the dean of Allah
subhana tala. What was haram yesterday
is haram today. And is upon the D to
forever have sabar and to continue and
not to waver when people begin to
believe in the mixing of of of the sexes
of co-education of removal of hijab of
removal of those things which are known
from that there's no upon them but
people begin to introduce this and then
the begins to waver thinking that if
everybody is calling to this then maybe
I should drop my stance and accept this
in society as well and this is a lack of
sabar what is clearly visibly haram then
a person should remain on God and stick
as what they say stick to the guns that
this is something incorrect and have sar
that you are upon the truth and this is
from the ayat of Allah subh from the
verse inside the Quran and the sunnah of
the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam
likewise that these people they say that
what are you going to achieve in this
one day and one night what are you going
to ever do that forever that your
preaching is not going to get you
anywhere And that's why the Arab poet he
wrote
when will you ever reach the perfection
of that building that every time you get
to the top another person comes and
destroys the building from the bottom
but it doesn't put the off it doesn't
put the one calling to the way of Allah
subhanaa tala off even if it gets to the
top and it's about to be destroyed he
will carry on or she will carry on
preaching the dean of Allah subhana wa
ta'ala that those fruits may be seen in
this world or may be seen later on. And
that's why we find that many times that
we begin to lose sabar and we're told to
have a j a beautiful patience that many
times we may walk out of many things
that we're doing or from refraining from
talking to an individual thinking that
this person is dal this person is
misguided and this person is lost and
even the companions they showed a lack
of patience on certain occasions in the
famous hadith that we find that a
companion came to him and the prophet
Muhammad was resting against the said to
him
Will you not pray for us?
Will you not call for the help of Allah
subh to come upon us? And then he said
to him, his face became red and angered
and he said that what is the matter with
you that before you there was a people
that they were placed in front and they
were cut in half and then their flesh
was taken away and only their bones were
left. But you are people
but you are people who are in a state of
hastiness that very there will come a
time that they will there will be peace
from
that these two cities in Yemen that the
traveler will be able to travel from one
plate one city to another city without
any fear without any fear except for the
wild animals that may be there that the
person may fear and many of the hadith
have written why did the prophet choose
and S. Why did he choose these two
cities? Because these two cities were
known for the rebellious nature of these
Arabs who lived in this country of Yemen
of robbing people and taking away their
wealth. You'll be able to travel in
between these two cities and not fear
anyone except for the
except for the the the animal the wild
animal upon that attacks you need the
beast, the sheep etc.
Likewise we find
humbleness is also another
characteristic of the the one calling to
the way of Allah subhana tala because we
find that the to be to humble oneself
the person begins to know one's
limitations likewise you find that
that's why some people they wrote
the more I increase in knowledge the
more I increase in my in ignorance and
here ignorance carries the meaning of
one understands one's limitations that
the more you increase in the knowledge
of Allah subhana the more you notice
that you are ignorant you're truly
ignorant
the amount of knowledge and
understanding you've been given is only
is a small amount so this brings about
this brings about humbleness and if
knowledge doesn't bring about humbleness
because the wrote that
knowledge is the fear of Allah subhana
tala if that is not developed within you
then there's no point in studying
knowledge it all becomes academia or
becomes academic knowledge of memorizing
textual things
is the fear of Allah subh which should
be recognized inside
those people who fear Allah subhana tala
carrying a general meaning of those
people who are
those people have good understanding of
the knowledge of the dean of Allah
subhanaa tala that is the first
attribute that should be seen in a
person who's calling to the way of Allah
subhana tala
fear of Allah subhana tala
in the open and even especially in the
secret when secret in alone when one is
alone with Allah subhana tala so
likewise we find
know your limitations know where you can
go and where you cannot go
and don't place it in in another
location where it should not be placed
meaning you should know that when to
speak and when not to speak and when to
present yourself and when not to present
yourself and that's why we find that
many of the the Salah they wrote this
story about Abdul Mubarak that one day
he went to see a person who was known
for abstinence or following any taz of
remaining in his home making
so he had a certain form of arrogance
within him that he wouldn't really let
people come and see him or he would
brush them aside so Abdullah Mubarak
went to see him one day and the man
didn't pay any attention to him and Abdi
Mubarak he just walked
So the man, he just thought it was just
another person. There's no need to pay
any attention to him. And they told him,
"Do you know who that person was?" He
said, "I don't know." And he said,
"This is the leader of of the believers
in Hadith." This man, he then got up
himself and he went up to Abdi Mubarak
and he apologized for not recognizing
him, thinking that I'm better than him.
Thinking I'm better than him or I don't
know who this individual is. Look, just
look down upon him. And this is
incorrect.
What is pride and arrogance
is to look down upon people and to
reject the truthiness
and pride to be proud is not to wear
good clothing and good shoes to eat well
and to dress well. But pride or being
proud is
to look down to despise other people to
think you're better than them. And this
is the way of
when Allah subh said to him in what
prevented you
that which I created with my own two
hands
I'm better than him.
You created me from fire and you created
him from clay. This is the first races.
This which is spread in front of the
Muslim ummah to look down upon other
people to despise people look down upon
them is is being proud and being
arrogant. So when this man he noticed
that Abdullah Mubarak this is the famous
hadith he is a great leader of hadith he
came up to him to apologize to him that
I did not recognize who you was.
Abdullahbn Mubarak gave him some advice
recognizing the man's deficiency and he
gave him some advice and he said to him
if you leave your house and end your
eyes fall upon anyone don't think that
you're better than them. That was the
advice that he gave to this man that
whenever you leave your home or whenever
somebody approaches you don't think
you're better than them. And this is the
best advice that can be given to any D
that whenever you are when you preaching
to people or anybody else or you're
speaking even you see their even you see
their sins in front of you firstly you
should thank Allah subh you are not
committing those sins and you're not
following that path and you're not
behaving like this individual and
secondly you should be thinking within
yourself that there may be some goodness
in this person that because of his sin
he may feel so ashamed of or she may
feel so ashamed that they are getting
close to Allah. subhana tala
he wrote these lines which should be
written with gold ink he wrote
obedience may take you to disobedience
and maybe some form of disobedience may
take you to obedience what does that
mean that obedience of Allah may take
you to disobedience what it means that
you begin to despise people and look
down upon people and you think you are
proud and arrogant and better than other
And perhaps an evil sin that you do will
take you to obedience. That's why you
find that they wrote that when Adam that
was he before after he committed the
sin. Was Doud Alam better after he made
his mistake and many of the who write
about the purification of soul they
write that a person is better when they
have repented to Allah subhana tala.
When you make a mistake and then you
repent you are in a better position than
you was before. This is
this is the wisdom of Allah subhana tala
that a person has a stronger
a stronger dedication to become a better
person when they've committed a sin and
likewise you find many a hadith that if
you not to commit sins then Allah
subhana would destroy you and bring
about a people who would commit sins and
then repent back to him and so that's
why this is some form of hikma wisdom
that we find that a person should not
despise other people even if they commit
sins in front of them but rather reflect
upon it that alhamdulillah that I am not
being triled in this form of fitna or
this tribulation. I'm not behaving this
manner and I should thank Allah that I'm
not following this path.
And that's why we find that it becomes a
great shame that people
who don't respect the that you find that
people who are who are deviants that you
find that forever they respect their
their clerics and their leaders and show
great respect for them and we amongst
ourselves show no respect for the for
the
and you can see clearly even amongst the
non-Muslims how their priests how their
rabbis how their leaders are respected
and given authority and position in the
society. As for amongst ourselves, we
find no position or authority given
amongst ourselves. And this is also
something against giving them their
rights. And likewise, you find this
famous statement.
We are men and they are men. You find
this forever time. They are men and we
are men. And this is incorrect. Even
according to the sunnah of the Quran,
you find there's a great difference
between men, some men and other men.
those men where he Allah subh has
mentioned
there are men inside the masjid who want
to be purified and then likewise you
find that this is likewise you find
there are these are men who are not
distracted from the remembrance of Allah
subhana wa ta'ala and then you find
another place inside the Quran
that there are some men amongst the jin
so the word is used here but one meaning
of is those me those men who are not
distracted from anything who are
dedicated to Allah subhana tala and here
you find another type of men who are
dealing within and dealing with the jin
both are men but great difference
between the two if you read these verses
in great detail and likewise we are men
and they are men is an incorrect
statement physically we may look like
men and they may look like men but that
which is inside them far overrides what
we may think is manhood that the
understanding of Allah subhana tala
Allah subh testified that none has the
right to be worshiped except for Allah
subhana tala and the angels
and men of understanding and knowledge.
So how can you say that we are men and
they are men? Our understanding and
their understanding is the same. It is
like the east and the west that the
understanding they have of the dean of
Allah subhana tala is greater and vast
than the understanding that we think or
we complain or we think that we have. So
once again this is against in humbleness
in in our understanding and that's why
we find that to take is also to take to
take advice from fellow people
especially the when he's preaching in
the way of Allah subhana tala many times
we have any uh slip of the tongue in the
words that we may use the way that we
may behave and likewise somebody may
come up in a good manner and advise us
look it's not befitting for you cuz some
people they feel to maybe give outside a
nightclub is is adequate. But um others
may disagree. The music, the nudity, the
whole atmosphere may become a very great
big temptation for some people to stand
outside and preach the dean of Allah
subhana tala. So all of the somebody
advis you this is not something adequate
for you to be seen and many of the were
never seen in immoral places. They were
never seen standing outside immoral
places speaking to people or even going
inside such places. So this new form of
concept of dawa as well. How can you be
talking to a person who is half drunk in
a state of nudity, intoxicated, taking
drugs etc. Either they could be mocking
you which is possibly true or they may
be paying attention. So we need to
choose the correct times of PG to
mankind and the locations as well to
visualize or get the best form of dawa
portrayed to these people and that's why
that can never be represented that he
hangs about in such places or he moves
with such people or he sits with such
people and likewise the way that we use
our tongue and the speech that we use
just to give daw to become more
streetwise and to use the slogans and
the terminologies that they use is
sometimes not befitting for to use the
language that is common amongst the
people even if at times they make the
people laugh and it may be required but
a d should excel beyond that because a
power lies inside the Quran and in the
words of the prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam they will forever move
people that is a a natural phenomenon
that which has been placed in the words
of Allah subhana tala that if these
words have been placed on upon a
mountain it would rip the mountain
aunder that is a power the magnitude and
these words have changed millions before
and will forever change millions until
the Quran is lifted from us so sometimes
these modern forms of techniques that
people may use are sometimes incorrect
in visualizing and giving dawa to people
and that's why we find that the
were forever ready to take and take
advice and that's why mention
may Allah subh show mercy to that
individual who show highlighted our
mistakes who showed us what we were
doing wrong so we become rectified so
that he is willing to take criticism
good criticism which is presented to him
or in a good manner to rectify the call
to Allah subhana tala. No one should
feel that this is a battle between me
and you or me to get the upper hand or
yourself to get the upper hand. It is
rather to present the message of Allah
in a good manner and a manner that is
acceptable and that is also just a very
basic hadith
and you truly believe until he loves for
his brother what he loves for himself.
So you see your brother making a mistake
committing a sin in front of you
especially if he's a d a caller or the
sister is a caller then to highlight
these points. Yes, you may be talking to
this to this man. What or to this
non-Muslim person you spoken to him
sufficiently
guide him to someone another brother in
the Islamic somebody else. No need to
continue the conversation. Fair enough.
In the beginning you may have met and
may have discussed with the person a few
minutes guide him to somebody else to go
to likewise the brothers in the zeal of
preaching the dean of Allah subhana tala
that sometimes they begin to forget the
conduct and the etiquets. Just because
it's dawa doesn't mean that you can now
look at the woman in her face or it's a
non-Muslim woman it doesn't make a
difference. Now the rules are there that
need to be applied throughout and so it
should be channeled towards the right
regulations and that's how we find that
sometimes we cannot understand the hikma
of Allah subhana tala just before coming
he was reading a story about a a new
imam in a certain masid he got on a bus
and the bus conductor gave him 20 p
extra and as he sat down he began to
think I've been given 20 p extra what
should I do it doesn't matter you know
the the bus they earn enough money
anyway these drivers or the government
earns enough money I'll just keep 20p
the other side saying look 20p. Allahh
knows that you owe the money to him.
He's giving you extra money. When it
came to his stop and he was about to get
off, he took the 20p and he said to the
conductor or the bus driver, "Look, you
gave me 20 p extra." He took it and he
goes, "Are you the new imam of the
masid?" He goes, "Yes, I am." He goes,
"I was just thinking about you cuz I
want you to come and pray inside your
masid, but I just wanted to see what
type of person you are." And as he got
up on the off the bus, his legs began to
shake and he said, "You I thank you.
Allah subh I was about to senior sell
your dean for 20 p.
I was about to sell your dean for 20 p.
The man wanted to test him intentionally
gave him 20 p extra to see is he really
trustworthy in the dean of Allah subhana
tala
and then he realized he realized
alhamdulillah he realized that he never
made that mistake and never kept the 20
p. And that is likewise the Di the Di
should forever be conscious. If you read
the s of many of the nubal of the great
people like Imam Bkari and such people
some people question authenticity about
never even being attributed of being
called a liar or a thief in their life.
As Imam Bkari was traveling on a voyage
and you find that he was carrying some
20,000 gold coins etc. And he began to
talk to a person who's a thief and you
know had a discussion being so truthful
said to him I'm carrying x amount of
gold coins. So end the journey, the
thief shouts out, "Somebody's stolen my
money. Somebody's stolen my money." So
the captain of the ship begins to search
everyone and doesn't find the money.
When they get to the to the end of the
voyage, they get to land. The thief goes
to Imam Bkari. I know you're an honest
person and you told me you had x amount
of money in in in a sack. Where is that
money? He goes, "I threw it aboard." He
goes, "Are you crazy? Is there something
wrong with you? You just threw these
gold coins away?" He go the reason why I
threw it away is less somebody writes in
the future that Imam Bkari was
attributed of being a thief
that ever anybody says we all know
you're not a thief but somebody may come
along and write that Imm Bkari was a
great mu hadith but he's he was accused
of being a thief once and that will
remain in people's mind that's the same
likewise a d has to think that even if
you sacrifice your wealth you have to
sacrifice something to remove something
away from you you should do that not
never to be attributed as we mentioned
theat of being called a liar be
attributed with stealing of being
immoral and and any form of misconduct
should never be attributed to that all
of us make sins all of us commit
mistakes but these major sins and these
major mistakes that we find should not
be attributed to one who is calling to
the dean of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and
then we find another attribute of the
one who's a is to be just to be just y
with the the enemy and to be truthful to
the to the enemy and to oneself as well
because many many times we find that we
don't be fair to other people
and do not be amongst those people who
go to one side and don't be fair be fair
and just because that is closer to the
consciousness of Allah subhana tala the
fifth chapter verse number eight so
that's why we find that many times we
find that we may pick on person's
mistakes and highlight their mistakes
and leave out their leave out their good
points and this is not the way of the is
fair and just and highlights that with
those which are the good points and then
may highlight any discrepancies that may
be there in the person. Likewise we find
especially is forever involved in
research and studying and looking at
various material and you may have to
read various books and various material.
Some people may say you abstain from
such works and material. But if the Di
doesn't research into these matters then
how can you tell other people especially
books which are currently available
inside the English language which may
have discrepancy inside them. So he
should be reading through this material
obviously once they have a good
understanding of the belief and the
sunnah of the prophet Muhammad to
highlight that these are the
discrepancies in this book but to be
fair and just not to go to one extreme
and to go to the other extreme to say
that everything in the book is marvelous
or to go to the other extreme that
everything in this book is palava or
contains no benefit at all but is the
one that takes the middle course and
highlights the good points and
highlights those point discrepancies
that may be inside there. Likewise you
find
to give a regulation about the f various
movements are in front of us at the
moment. Various organizations, various
people are there in front of us. So we
cannot just paint everybody with the
same brush and say all of them are
misguided. All of them are incorrect.
There's no goodness in any of them.
There is some goodness in some of them
and there's some maybe some great
discrepancies in some of them. But to be
fair and just that where there's some
goodness being done, the person should
alleviate or show goodness to these
people. For example, some people may
stand up for human rights of Muslims in
this country. Maybe you may not agree
upon them on some points, but those
people may be defending you tomorrow. If
you don't show some affection and some
trust with these people, so who would
you rather trust? Would you rather trust
the disbelievers or would you trust this
person who may have some discrepancy in
their character, some discrepancy in
their belief? And that's how you find
that even the people of Bidra, people of
innovation, that people should trust
them over the disbelievers. that even if
a person comes to Islam and they come be
become an innovator in what they are
doing, they are still more beloved
should be more beloved to you than the
person who is a clear-cut disbeliever.
Yes, some people may say that the person
is hiding what they're doing etc. But
the general form is that you should
accept them and show more trust and and
justification towards such people.
Likewise you find
in what people are striving to do that
people should be fair and just that some
people may have spent day and night
preaching dean of Allah subhana tala and
a person says that there's no in this
person there's no good in this person
there's nothing good that they are
talking about and this is also being not
fair to many people there may be many
people excelling in what the activities
that we may think that we are doing as a
forever calling to the way of Allah
subhanaa tala writing about the dean of
Allah subhana tala defending the dean of
Allah subhana tala and we should show
justness towards these people as well is
the way of the as well
any for example you find just a small
point for example jihadi the the war in
Afghanistan previously that some people
they wrote that these people
they're incorrect in everything that
they done that these people are
incorrect in everything that they done
there's no good inside there how to
extent they wrote
these people are polytheists fighting
against the atheists and this is
incorrect
incorrect to say that this is total
ignorance to say that those people yes
there may have been some people who may
have been committing some aspects of
shik but to write words of such nature
that these are polytheists these are
mushikun who are fighting the atheists
is totally unfair is not the way of the
d to weigh up things in such nature to
call people in a general label These
people are polytheists and they are
fighting against the people who are
atheists
because we find from the proof of this
is not against the way of the is the
prophet Muhammad said about
he is a king and no one is oppressed in
his authority and this was said before
he became a Muslim this before became a
Muslim that go to him that he is a king
that does not oppress anyone so what is
the prophet Muhammad doing about this
person if he's not praising him what
else is he
He's praising a disbeliever here at that
stage. Now Jashi was a disbeliever. Go
to him because he's under his kingdom is
a kingdom that no one will be oppressed.
So here this is for amongst showing a an
aspect about being fair and just to
people when it is due to them.
Likewise you find al in dealing with
justice in dealing with the law dealing
with the rules and regulations of the
dean of Allah subhana tala because many
times we find that many actions that we
do that we begin to become
very harsh upon people. We read some
some basic hadith
that the one who cuts off the ties of
relationship will not enter Jenna. Oh,
the one who talks about um who says
certain things or whoever does this
action that the action of kufur people
begin to say that you have become a
disbeliever or you you you have come
left the f of Islam or you you're a very
bad person. This is incorrect because on
the other side we find many hadith
highlighting about the person
Allahh has made it haram upon an
individual to go in the fireall
whoever says sincing the faith of Allah
subh has made it haram for that
individual to go to the hellfire so this
is being just now yes a person may have
made a mistake don't label them that
that you are that you are forever going
in the hellfire this is not the way of
the you don't have a control of sending
people to the hellfire and then bringing
them out and then sending on to Jenna
and then bringing them out that only
belongs to Allah subhana tala even when
you label somebody as action or maybe
action of disbeliever is an act it's an
action of kufur and every single action
of kufur does not make you a disbeliever
it may look like he he's behaving even
like a disbeliever but an action is
kufur the action is disbelief but to
label him as a disbeliever is something
against the way of sunnah to quickly
label people as disbelievers which has
become common amongst us as well. So we
find that also to look at the aspect of
hope and mercy of Allah subhana tala
that yes a person may be making a
mistake but at the same time the d
should be one highlighting that to have
hope in Allah subhana tala that he will
be forgiven or she will be forgiven and
to come closer to Allah subhana wa
ta'ala
like if to place the sunnah of the
prophet Muhammad in its correct order
there are many people in their zeal of
of of love of Islam, love of the sun of
the prophet Muhammad, they begin to go
beyond the bounds and so for example we
find that a person may for example
wearing the shoes and praying now a
person may feel that this is such a
strong I highlight the word sunnah that
we need to teach the people listen and
they need to do it when a person doesn't
know how to perform woo doesn't know how
to perform ablution doesn't know how to
pray but in the zeal and they love to to
highlight this point they want everybody
to do And this is once again not
justification. This is not just that to
know the limitation of people and know
the understandings of the people to
teach them that which is correct. And
that does not mean that we belittle the
sunnah in any way because the love of
the sunnah should be forever in one's
heart. But is a time to highlight
certain points and a time not to
highlight them looking at the state of
of mankind. For examp
be be aware of these things. Di himself
or a female person who's called the way
of Allah should be trying their best to
adopt all of the sunns of the sunnas of
the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam in their life and likewise to
maybe to enforce them upon people but to
take the limitations for example some
people in enforcing about the way the
lower garment to what what degree should
it be raised these are very very
important issues but at the same time
you know that somebody doesn't know
anything about Allah doesn't know the
prophet Muhammad what is the point in
telling them about this they They don't
even know about Allah. They don't know
the sunnah of the prophet Muhammad.
They've developed no love for it. So it
just go in one ear, go out the other
ear. Or even if it is adopted, it just
be because to be with the crowd just to
fulfill the regulation that everybody is
dressing in such a manner. And this is
an incorrect form of cultiv cultivation
of of of the youth. But to begin with
those things which aream the important
things and without doubt no one would
differ that the most important thing is
the belief in Allah subhana tala and
then the belief in the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wasallam and to follow
his sunnah in our life. So here we find
to know what things to place in front.
For example, many people may talk about
championing the Islamic Empire, the
coming again of the Islamic law, how it
will be governed in this country in
quite a sad state of affairs that we
don't even understand the British law,
we don't understand Islamic law, and
then we're going to champion the whole
re rewrite Islamic law for this country
and for the people. People should know
once again the limitations where they
stand and where they belong and you
really be truthful to their own selves
before they begin to champion the cause
of Allah subhana tala.
So here we find to be just I mean the
example here that's given is of that
some people when they think of they
think oh you when he made made his
famous statement that if there was a
bakl there was a him there's a donkey in
Iraq and it was you just walking around
he didn't have a path to travel on then
I would be questioned about that so
that's what some people would think that
the political aspects of Islam is
talking about Omaran other people would
think about Omar when they see him that
he was a person with a short garment and
with a long beard. So that's the concept
that they will get of Omar. However, the
concept of it should be that he was both
he was worried about the situation in
Iraq of a donkey walking in the path and
there's not a proper road to travel on
and he was worried about his bear and he
was worried about his th as well. That
is the full picture you should get of
Omar not the one picture of his
political contributions and the other
contributions of him adopting the sunnah
but both should be developed inside
one's life. That is the vision that one
should get of great companions like
and likewise if to take the whole of
Islam and to you pay attention to the
whole of Islam and try to try one's best
to develop it in one's life
and with that he does a few words that I
wanted to share like I said that was not
my topic today to discuss but tomorrow
we'll go into more detail about the
or the characteristic of characteristics
of the believer of the Muslim in
general. May Allah subh accept these
words in
[Music]
the next headings referred to as women's
issues.
um are in fact
mostly women's issues. That's pages 38
through
uh 48.
The first of them
is the issue of polygamy. How to deal
with this? One of the most common issues
that non-Muslims raise. Why you Muslims
are polygamous? Well,
to explain it to people, it is good to
clarify to them that Islam did not
invent polygamy.
You know, in fact, when the prophet, if
they're looking at Islam as being
coming into existence with Prophet
Muhammad because of course, it's good in
our da'wah to clarify to people that we
don't believe that that was the
beginning of Islam. Islam didn't first
show up when prophet Muhammad wasallam
showed up. It showed up from the time of
Adam when Allah created the first human
being. He gave him a way of life how to
live. So Islam was there from then. But
if the person looking at it from the
perspective of Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam, we explained to them
that when prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wasallam came and the Quran was
revealed, polygamy was uh endorsed.
It was not invented. It was endorsed. It
already existed in the world. It was
everywhere. And Islam just limited it.
Gave it rules and regulations to protect
the interests of those involved. That's
what Islam did.
So we can't accuse Muslims of being
uh the introducers of polygamy and
that's that's although this is what we
are sort of identified as you know the
polygamous nation but the reality as we
said is that monogamy
as I explained before is only a word
it didn't exist in the early Greeks and
the Romans who are the ones who promoted
monogamy offic officially as the law.
Early Christianity didn't have anything
to say against polygamy because the
prophets of the Old Testament were
polygamous,
right? And early Christians practiced it
all the way up until the 15th, 16th up
even until the 18th century people still
practiced it
in different parts of Europe.
So it was really from Greece and Rome
that the idea of monogamy was promoted.
However, in both Greece and Rome, men
were permitted to have concubines.
Men were permitted to have concubines,
meaning they had slaves who they could
have relations with.
So what was the meaning of monogamy
then?
If the official law was one wife, but
you could have
as many concubines as you wished. What
is the meaning of that polyg of that
monogamy?
You understand that principle that
monogamy really never existed.
It it was it was something on the law
books in Greece and Rome, but it was not
implemented.
It meant you could not have more than
one legal wife. And that's basically the
principle that the West is following
today. In America, Canada, UK, etc.,
adultery and fornication is not a crime.
It's not a crime. So what does that
mean? It means then that monogamy
is not the rule.
People can fornicate, they can commit
adultery, having mistresses, girlfriends
or all these other things. They can go
to prostitutes etc. and still say I'm
monogous.
So what we point out is that really this
being the nature of males
historically
every society in the world without
exception has had polygamy.
What Islam has done is recognizing that
nature has regulated it. And this is why
you find amongst Muslims
uh though polygamy
is permitted the number of Muslims who
practice it are quite few. In fact, uh
the survey done in India
amongst Hindus and Muslims indicated
that the percentage of Muslims
practicing polygamy were less than the
Hindus practicing it. Though it is
illegal for the Hindus,
Dr. Dr. Zaki has the statistics and the
report etc showing clearly it was more
practiced amongst Hindus though it was
illegal for them than amongst Muslims
themselves. So Muslims because of the
responsibilities involved you know uh it
would and they recognize that as an
issue of responsibility they practice it
on a much lower scale.
Furthermore, if we look at monogamy and
polygamy, we have to look at it from a
logical perspective.
If a person says, we look at the law,
the monogous law, if a man has a wife
and he has a girlfriend,
it's legal.
If he decides to marry that girlfriend
and treat her just like his wife,
that's illegal. That's a crime for which
he is punished. can be jailed. It's
called bigamy.
What is the logic in that?
It is illogical
because you're permitting extra
relations. But when a person wants to
take responsibility for the relations,
ensuring that the child is, you know,
carries the name and is not considered
to be illegitimate, etc., etc., then
you're saying, "No, punish this person.
He's a criminal. This is illogical,
right?
Also there's a a survey which was done
amongst
mistresses, girlfriends
whose hus whose uh mates were married
and they were asked if you have the
choice between
uh becoming a second wife or remaining a
girlfriend, what would you prefer?
unanimous
second wife.
This is amongst non-Muslims. Unanimous
second wife because what? There's there
is honor. There's some honor here, you
know, because your relationship has been
legitimized.
Also, you know, there are variety of
other points that can be made and
they're mentioned here in in detail. If
the if the um non-Muslims sometimes
raise the issue of well if men can have
four wives why can't women also have
four husbands you know
well that's coming from a perspective
that men and women are equal that the
the relationship in marriage is an equal
a relationship of equals
well from the Islamic perspective it is
complimentary but not necessarily equal
a woman the the woman's threshold of
pain
is far higher
than that of a man.
So she is the one who delivers the
babies. If a man had to go through that
pain that a woman had to go through, he
wouldn't be able to deal with it. So
Allah gave it to women.
At the same time,
a man not getting pregnant is in a
position to look after the woman in her
times of weakness. So there are
complimentary roles. So Allah gave him
certain abilities whether it is the
greater strength or whatever to look
after the family as the one responsible
to look after the family. So
uh we don't look at the issue of well if
a man can why can't a woman you know
we know that Allah has created man and
woman differently. So I mean also the
issue of you know who is the father of
the baby if the woman has multiple
husbands
to just tell the child well I think it's
so and so
I mean no child is going to be satisfied
and happy with that and DNA tests etc do
not uh rule out absolutely who and and
identify clearly who the father is they
suggest that it is likely, etc. It's not
100%.
Um, arranged marriages, you know, which
is a major issue here in in the UK
where there have been headlines about,
you know, Muslim families forcing their
daughters into marriages
back home,
Pakistan or India, whatever.
uh and
Islam is then presented as one in which
the children especially the girls are
forced to marry people who are not of
their choice. Of course we have to
clarify that this is not the case uh as
a rule in Islam though it may be in
practice. We can't deny what is
happening you know what is happening in
the community where people are being
forced. So one cannot deny that people
may do this but this is not what Islam
teaches. The right of the woman to
choose the person who she's going to
marry is established in Islam and the
parents are only supposed to help her
help her find a husband and help the son
find a wife. This is only to help in the
process so that they're not left on
their own to go searching around for
themselves you know which in general
society leads to ultimately to
corruption. So it is to protect the
society protect them from the harm that
comes from it and especially the young
women are the ones who suffer. So this
is only a guideline to help in the
choice but the ultimate choice is still
up to the young women you know from the
Islamic perspective. So we just need to
clarify that we don't judge two things.
One, we should look at the context that
this is within a context where family
and decisions of family you know uh are
taken into account that uh children
young people within a family don't look
at themselves as being independent that
their choices have repercussions on the
family etc. So they do take counsel from
their parents etc etc etc. So family is
involved you know and this is a
different perspective from a society
where the family is broken down family
is just a man wife and kids so they
don't feel when a young person reaches a
certain age they have to get out and
look after themselves they don't feel a
need to involve family anymore so this
is an important point you know for us to
show them the difference between family
in Islam and family in other societies
and then again we point out that the
role goal of the guardian to help her
and not to force her. This is the true
teachings that if we find Muslims doing
things, we don't judge Islam by what
they do. And that's natural for people
to want to do that, but we tell them
that Islam is not what Muslims do, but
what Muslims should do.
All praise is due to Allah and may
Allah's peace and blessings be on the
last prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam and on all those who follow the
path of righteousness until the last
day.
We began the general topics which were
called uh women's issues. Uh yesterday
covered the issue concerning polygamy
and um
the concept of forced marriage.
Um the the third major topic related to
that is that of the double standard in
marriage in that Muslim males can marry
non-Muslim females.
Whereas Muslim females are not allowed
to marry
non-Muslim males. There is an apparent a
double standard.
Um
we explain to them that on one hand
Muslim males it's not that they can
marry any non-Muslim female. There are
certain conditions she can she has to be
from the people of the book the people
who are either Christians or Jews and
furthermore she has to be chased
us the term
right so the are those who are chased
meaning they hadn't had any relations
sexual relations outside of marriage
either they are virgins or they are um
divorces or widows like this but the
person who has engaged in uh
extrammarital sexual relations such a
person a Muslim man is not allowed to
marry
right
uh so it is limit there's a limitation
then the issue that remains is the
relationship between the husband and the
wife you know from the Muslim
perspective
The husband tends to dominate or will
dominate a family relationship.
What he says, what he desires will
happen in the family generally.
So in such a case, if a Muslim man
married a Christian or Jewish woman, any
of the things that he would require of
her
to maintain what is an acceptable
Islamic home
would not interfere with her practicing
her religious
beliefs. Meaning if he said, "I don't
want any alcohol in my home.
I don't want you to wear a miniskirt
if the neighbors come over to visit. I
don't want you kissing their the
husbands. You know, all of the different
practices and customs which may be
common in the society which are against
Islamic teachings, none of them are
religious requirements for Christians
and Jews.
So, a Christian woman, if she had to
give up alcohol and give up miniskirts
and not kiss the neighbor's uh husband,
you know, or not eat pork, not cook pork
in the home, none of these things are
against her religious beliefs. So, her
religion is intact. And of course, he as
a Muslim husband cannot stop her from
praying to whomsoever she wishes to pray
to. If her idea of Christianity is I
pray through Jesus, etc., He cannot tell
her you can't pray through Jesus
because he marries her as a Christian.
He marries her with her belief as a
Christian.
Whereas a Muslim woman under a not a
non-Muslim husband, she would be in a
compromising compromised position
because if he desired
pork, he wanted to drink some alcohol,
all the different things which are
normal for him and he asked her to do
these things, she would be going against
the principles of her religion in order
to fulfill the requirements of her
husband. So from that perspective, Islam
doesn't allow the Muslim woman to marry
a non-Muslim man to protect her
religion. It's in order to guard her
religion
from
uh compromise from her giving up and and
practicing things which are against the
principles of our religion. Also the
issue of children
that children who are raised in the home
will likely follow the religion of the
father.
Will follow the religion of the father.
Meaning meaning that the father being
the dominant influence, you know, uh
will likely want the child to be raised
according to his own set of beliefs.
It's not to say that they're not
exceptions, but again, when we look at
laws, laws don't are not made for
exceptions. They're made for the general
case. Right? So, also in order to
preserve the religion of the children,
that they be raised in fact as Muslims.
Again, this is one of the requirements
of Islamic law that Muslim women not
marry non-Muslim males.
And this is one of the reasons why in
general though Muslim males are allowed
to marry Christian females or Jewish
females,
it is not recommended in Muslim minority
situations like here in the UK.
It's not recommended that a Muslim man
marry a Christian woman. Not here. back
in Pakistan or in Egypt or in
Bangladesh, these countries where there
are Muslim majorities,
no problem. But here where Muslims are
minorities,
uh you know that it is problematic
because uh the environment is not going
to support the raising of the child as a
Muslim. One, two, if you are divorced
and divorce is something real. It's
happening all around us. If you're
divorced, generally speaking, the courts
will give the children to their mothers.
So the chances of your child being
raised as a Muslim become very small. So
it's a dangerous situation and as such
it would not be recommended. Nobody can
say haram. You cannot because Allah has
made it halal. So no one can say it is
haram. But it's a question of
recommendation. Is it something
recommended? it is something you know or
something discouraged given this circum
circumstance.
The other issue that is often raised
concerning Muslim women and marriage is
the issue of divorce itself that divorce
the right to pronounce divorce is in the
hands of men and women uh can't
pronounce divorce that is the general
perception. Of course again we have to
clarify that it is not only in the hand
of the man. It is possible for a woman
to pronounce divorce also if at the time
of her marriage she has in her marriage
contract that
she has or can have the right to
pronounce divorce like her husband. He
agrees to it. That's a condition in the
marriage. Then she has that right.
She can pronounce divorce as the man can
pronounce divorce if he agrees to do
that. Or if at any time in the marriage
she requests it and he gives her
permission, she can do it also. And this
happened in the time of the prophet
sallallah wasallam where a man came to
him and complained that his wife
pronounced divorce on him you know and
he he asked him how was that? He said
she requested that you know right to
pronounce a divorce. I gave it and she
pronounced divorce. He said well you
gave her the right you know. So uh that
is a that is another route. Also we have
the uh court initiated divorce known as
kah where she approaches the court and
requests that they intercede and and uh
proceed with divorce for her. So it is
not it's not that divorce is only in the
hands of men. Men women don't have the
right to divorce at all. But there are
some conditions. is not an automatic
right as it is in the case of males.
And the other thing which um uh related
to the issue of the divorce is the the
issue of it being uh easy.
You know, in the case of Muslim males,
the general impression which is given
that the man just has to say you're
divorced, you're divorced, you're
divorced, that's it.
She's divorced. So easy.
Whereas fact of the matter is that it is
not so easy. I mean there are conditions
he cannot pronounce divorce if she is uh
in hermensis for example. Uh and and
these conditions that are there are to
prevent uh misuse or a person uh
resorting to divorce when it is not
really uh necessary but only a temporary
kind of change in the situation. you
know where women due to the biological
changes that are associated with
menration you know this can affect and
they do affect women's personalities
many women's personalities around the
time of menration so uh the males are
told not to pronounce divorce at that
point in time also they're not allowed
to pronounce divorce in a period between
menes in which they've had sexual
relations with their wives meaning it
basically Islam is looking at it from
the perspective that if a man has enough
desire for his wife that he was have
will have relations with her, sexual
relations, then he shouldn't be
divorcing her. He should be thinking
about it. You know, he should think it
over some more. So, he would not be
allowed to pronounce divorce in that
period. And even when the divorce is
pronounced,
it is uh one pronouncement. If he says
it three times or if he says it 10
times, it's still considered considered
to be one pronouncement. That is the
that was the methodology of the prophet
Muhammad wasallam and that is the most
accurate way. Now we know uh from a
legal perspective that Omar Kab had uh
ruled that three pronouncements of
divorce would be considered one I was
considered three you know in order to
discourage people from doing it for a
period of time. But the general rule is
according to the methodology of the
prophet sallallam which was no many no
matter how many pronouncements you make
at in one sitting etc. It should only be
considered as one pronouncement and when
that pronouncement is given then there
is a waiting period of 3 months. It's
not again just an automatic situation.
There's a three month or three menstrual
cycles that have to take place and the
woman is supposed to live in the home
with her husband during that period of
time because she is still his husband.
Uh yeah, she's still his wife, not
husband. Still his wife. So um uh you
know the practice of kicking the wife
out the home when she when the man
pronounces divorces is of course not uh
Islamic. that people may do it. It's a
cultural thing but uh it's not
acceptable Islamically h or the man
leaving the home as it may be in the
west. In the west when the divorce
happens the man is told to leave. Uh
this is of course against Islamic
principles. They're supposed to remain
together because you're still husband
and wife. He's still required to
maintain or look after etc. right up
until the completion of the divorce.
So it is not so easy as it is portrayed
you know in the movies or in in novels
or whatever. It has its own complexities
and it requires time and uh there is
encouragement for uh resolution of
whatever problems that are there. Uh
furthermore
uh we could note here that
in the case of the west though they
speak about well our divorce is much
more complicated. You have to go to
court but you know what's happening in
the courts. You know it becomes a battle
a war where the man is trying to make
the woman look as bad as possible. He
will mention all kinds of things that
are happening in the home and what she's
done and and then she will say the same
about him. you know it's as we say
washing your laundry in public you know
exposing the the secrets of the home you
know which is a is something evil
furthermore you know it is um people are
driven to lying to try to maintain this
property and to get that property and
you know there's a whole fit you know
battle that has takes place causing
economic you know distress because both
parties get lawyers they have to pay
these people huge amounts of money and
everybody's going for the throat. You
know, it's I mean, it's a it's it's a
horrible situation. And in spite of all
of that, if you have enough money, I
know in America anyway, I don't know
what happens here in the UK, but whether
they recognize or not, but they have
what is called a quickie divorce, right?
The Mexican divorce, where you can fly
down to Mexico City, you know, you make
your arrangements ahead of time, you
know, over the telephone, you fly in,
you sign papers, and you fly back out.
You're divorced.
You know, so for the west who like to
say, well, no, you know, ours takes
time. No, if you have money, you can
afford it, then you can arrange quickie
divorces. Right? So that accusation
against Muslims is not in fact correct.
Um
the other issue
concerning divorce related to divorce is
the issue of alimony.
uh in the west when a woman is divorced
she gets money paid to her from her
husband's income or from his wealth or
whatever to sustain her. They say well a
Muslim woman when she's divorced she
gets nothing
you know after the divorce is complete
you know during the period of the ida
she does get maintenance etc but after
that then she's not she does not receive
anything so where's where is the
fairness here from the Islamic
perspective of course uh we can
understand how in the west a woman would
feel that need to have that alimony
because a woman is on her own.
She's on her own. That's the context,
the society. A man is on his own. Woman
is on her own. So when they split up,
then she's now on her own. There's
nobody to support or anything. She has
to look to see how am I going to get
support. All these years that we were
married, I was taking care of the home.
I was not working and earning my own
money. I was taking care of the home
while you were out working. So I, you
know, I helped to contribute to whatever
money you have. So therefore, if we're
splitting up, then I want half of it or
whatever. Right? So this is the
rationale. Whereas from the Islamic
perspective,
because of the fact that the father is
responsible for his daughter or the
brother for his sister or the son for
his mother, that the woman is not on her
own. In the case of divorce, she goes
back to her father. There's somebody
who's responsible to look after her. And
uh from that perspective then the issue
of alimony is not an issue anymore.
She's looked after by her father, by her
brother or by her son. And um the man
has his own responsibility. If he has a
mother who's divorced or a mother who is
widowed, if he has a sister, if he has a
daughter, you know, he is responsible
for them
throughout their lives. you know, sister
until she's married, daughter until
she's married, you know, mother until
she remarries, he's responsible.
So, uh, recognizing those family
responsibilities and Islam doesn't have
an alimony requirement
in terms of the dress code, the hijab.
And this is one of the big issues that
is commonly raised in the um course of
da. Um, we have to clarify for people
that
the wearing of the hijab for Muslim
women is something which is not imposed
by men on women but something which God
has prescribed and God has explained the
reason for it prescription. It is not
just I mean we do have certain uh
Islamic laws and principles where no
reason is given.
No specific reason is given and we
accept that it is for the best and Allah
knows best.
Much of the Islamic laws do have reasons
given that we can understand, we can
perceive, we can identify.
For example,
prohibition of pork
Exactly why is not so clear as the
prohibition of alcohol. Prohibition of
alcohol is very clear, crystal clear.
The prohibition
um of animals of prey, the lion, the
tiger, the falcon, the eagle, but
non uh carniv carnivorous animals
permissible. I mean the difference
between the two is is very subtle.
Why exactly have they been prohibited?
We're not certain. But the prohibition
of other harmful substances, something
which we know can take your life,
smoking,
uh poison, things like this, it's
obvious why it is prohibited.
So in the case of uh uh if we go into
actually ibadat the uh five times daily
prayer uh why five and not six or four
we believe that five is most appropriate
because God knows best. We may not be
able to explain to people why five. We
say God has prescribed five and that's
it. We accept that.
Why prayer regularly? Of course, we can
give some explanation for that. But why
that number? We just accept God has
prescribed five and we do it. In the
case of wearing the hijab, you know,
Allah states there in the Quran.
Let them cast their outer garments over
their bodies. Allah gives this
instruction. And so it's a command that
is best in order that they be known and
not harmed. He's given the two
principles
for why
covering the hijab has been prescribed.
That they be known and not be harmed.
That they be known. Known in what sense?
Known as chasteed women.
women who are not uh interested in
extrammarital affairs or relations,
boyfriend, girlfriend, you know, knowing
men outside of a marriage context.
That's what they're known for. Just as
in the West, a person sees a nun uh
here, you know, wearing her full habit,
her outfit, you know, they know this is
a woman that you don't approach. You
don't go over to her and say we'd like
to come to a party with me, you know,
like to go out for a drink. No, this is
understood. The nun in her dress, this
is not the type of person that you come
and try to talk that type of talk to. So
similarly, when the Muslim woman wears
that garb, that's what she's she's
telling because you know, dresses,
dress codes, they have meanings. They
they they portray or they give some
information to the public. When you see
a policeman in his uniform, that uniform
is telling you something. You know, you
see a doctor in his coat, etc. in the
hospital, that's telling you something.
You know, you go in the hospital, you
look for people wearing those coats. You
don't go to, you know, somebody who's
wearing overalls, you know, that he
cleans the floor in. You don't go and
ask him for an operation. No, you see,
he's not dressed according to that
particular uh code for the doctor. So,
the dress tells you something, right? It
it lets them be known. Similarly, the
Muslim woman's dress lets her be known
in the society for that particular
quality.
The other um uh factor is that she not
be harmed. She not be harmed. Harmed
meaning that uh when a woman exposes
herself
physically, she exposes herself to harm.
When she exposes herself physically, she
exposes herself to harm.
Meaning if we look at the rate of rape
in the west from the turn of the
century, the 20th century till the end
of that century, 100 years, and you plot
it on a graph, you will see it going
from a very low point to a very high
point.
I don't know what the statistics here
are in UK, but in the US in the early
'9s, it had crossed the 100,000 mark.
100,000 women raped yearly, reported
rapes. And they said the actual number
is probably 7 to 10 times that amount.
So you're talking someplace around a
million women raped yearly.
And that statist those statistics that
was in the '9s. If you went back to the
40s and you went back to the 30s and the
20s, you'll see it going down.
And now if you look at the dress of
women in America at the the turn of the
century, the same thing here in the UK
when women would go swimming in the
1900s. If you ever seen any old
pictures, you know, from the 1900s, when
the people went to the beach, they went
swimming. How were they dressed? The way
they dressed now, of course not. There
they were covered up from head to toe.
The long dresses all the way covering
down to their wrists and ankles, you
know, like dresses. They were swimming
with dresses on. Today, if you want to
go to a swimming pool, a woman want to
go swimming pool with a dress on, they
say, "Hey, you know, no, we have we have
special dress codes. You're not allowed
to go swimming." So, you know, wearing
these kind of clothing. And of course
for Muslim women if she's swimming even
amongst other Muslim women she has to
wear some garment which is going to be
loose enough to cover her at least
between her neck and her and her knee
you know she can't go swimming like
Muslim non-Muslim women you know wearing
bathing suits
is not permissible that's exposing her
bodies to another woman not allowed
right so uh the point is that at the
beginning of the century that's how
people were dressing by the middle of
the century Towards the end of the
century, the '7s, '60s, '7s, ' 80s. I
mean, you could see their clothing was
taken off until they're wearing, you
know, just little bits of string, which
are referred to as bikinis, etc. You
know, they're virtually naked.
And the consequence in the society is
that there's been a rise in rape.
There is a relationship. People want to
say, "No, no, it's not that, you know,
people maybe they're more open now to
talk about." No, please. realities that
human beings, you know, function
according to discernable principles in a
society. If a man sees a woman walking
in the full habit of the nun, he may
look at her and watch her and he sees
another woman wearing a bikini going to
the beach, he will look at her and watch
her. But is he looking and watching the
same way? what's going on in his mind
when he sees the woman in the bikini his
mind when he sees the woman in the habit
two different things altogether
and the consequence
consequence is the harm that comes to
the woman she is the one who suffers so
Islam says protect her
protect her we could say yeah protect
her from males from the danger of males
who when aroused by the exposure of the
female body
will go ac across the laws will will
break the laws
given enough uh of a circumstance that
would drive them to it. If every time
you're looking in the newspaper, you're
watching the television, whatever, you
see that uh they want to sell the
Jaguar,
when they're selling the Jaguar, instead
of just telling you how big the engine
is,
you know, how powerful, how fast it goes
from zero to 100, whatever,
they put a woman lying on top of it in a
bikini, red bikini, and that's how they
sell the car,
you
really if you just stop to think why
what is the connection between the
Jaguar you know or the Corvette or
whatever big sports car and a woman
lying on a bikini on the car but that is
the sales pitch I mean just coming here
I was just look reading the newspaper I
don't know what what newspaper it was
exactly one of the British dailies and
as I was flipping through you know there
are ads for couches these are just
couches
Every single one of those ads had a
woman lying on the couch. Why? What is
the connection with the woman lying on
the couch and selling the couch? you're
selling a leather couch or you're
selling a material cloth couch or you
know that's what you should be talking
about the materials and the but no every
one of them have you know some
provocative woman a model in you know so
what is happening the society the
exposed woman is used to sell all the
products the main products and of course
that arouses for the man his desires and
if it is not fulfilled even though in
the society you know extra affairs is
now accepted etc etc but still
the rate of rape is rising.
So what we can say is that common sense
tells us here that there is a connection
there is harm and this is what Islam
seeks to provide for the woman
protection from that harm not that men
are inherently evil you know because
that's because they look at this men the
men are the ones who should be you know
punished and of course usually the
feminists when they hear how severe the
punishment is for for men for rape you
know execution if it's uh done with some
kind of weapon or whatever it's
execution ions death death penalty for
rape they they love that said wonderful
we should implement that they they don't
like anything else about Islam but yeah
kill these rapists right you know but
the point is that but you want to
maintain your dress yes we'll kill the
rapist but I still can go out and wear a
bikini if I want to
this is this is not fair Islam says no
uh on one hand we have a severe
punishment for males and on the other
hand we have to have some cooperation on
the part of the females they're not
going to encourage and then
bring the full force of the law down on
the individual. No, it should be a
balance a balance here. So the uh
garment Muslim women's dress, you know,
we can say if this were something
imposed on women, then we would not find
the kind of numbers coming into Islam of
women that we find today. You know they
estimate in the US I don't know about
the stats for here in the UK but in the
US they estimate about 400 between three
and 400 people accepting Islam every
day.
Every day.
Every day across the US. Every day
across the US uh between three and 400
people. And
60% of those to 70% are women.
Majority who are converting to Islam are
women. These are women who have grown up
in the west with all of the things that
are connected to it and have rejected
that way and have chosen to cover
themselves. So we can say that hey if
one understands the principles of the
religion etc one understands that this
is a choice really in the on the parts
of women to obey Allah's command which
they know is for their betterment their
benefit. Of course, you know, to be
honest, of course, in many parts of the
Muslim world today, the wearing of
hijab, you know, is become sort of
symbolic. You know, they're not wearing
it properly or they may be wearing it
provocatively. You know, these kind of
things exist. But what when we're
talking about the concept of hijab, we
talk about hijab as prescribed by Islam,
not hijab as maybe used or applied by
cultural Muslims today.
The other area of um
of contention that is commonly raised is
the issue of the uh inheritance that
inheritance for uh males is twice that
of females
a 2:1 ratio in general. Of course we can
point out to them that this is not in
all cases. There are some cases as the
Allah states if a man or woman died and
left neither descendants nor ascendants
but left behind a brother or sister each
gets a sixth
it's equal there right so it's not in
all cases and Allah knows why best why
in that case he's done it but in most of
the other cases it is 2 to1 but as a
general principle we explain it in the
context of Muslim society Again, many of
these issues have to do with the context
of the society in the west again where
men and women they're on their own. When
they reach a certain age, they have
responsibility to take care of
themselves. So naturally, if you're
talking about a division of inheritance,
then the man should get the same as the
woman. Why should the man get more than
the woman? That man is not responsible
for the woman.
for a sister for example
or a husband. Yeah. For a sister. Uh so
why should he get any more in the
Islamic system? A female always has a
male responsible for her.
So that male and female when they're
when the inheritance are dividing,
there's a portion which is equal that
they both receive. Then there's an
additional portion given to the male
because of the fact that he's
responsible for his sister, for his
mother, for his daughter, for his aunt,
you know, depend if she if her husband
is not there. So there's always some
male who is responsible for the female.
So when the division takes place, it
takes into account that additional
responsibility on males.
Furthermore, when we get into the issues
of inheritance, it's also good to point
out to people that
before you raise an objection about the
division of inheritance in Islam, it is
good for you to reflect on the concept
of female inheritance of property in
general.
Just the general concept of females
inheriting property, having their own
property in their own names, able to
dispose of that property as they desire.
When did females in Western civilization
get that right?
I know in the US they didn't get it
until the 20th century
till the 19
10 15s something like this. It was
finally in law that they were able to
own and dispose of property themselves.
In western law in the past, women were
themselves property,
properties of their husbands.
And that's why when a woman married a
man, his name was put on her.
Just as whatever property he had, he
would put his name on it. He had a
villa, he put his name on the villa. He
had a chariot, he put his name on the
chariot. He had a slave, he put his name
on the slave. He had a wife, he put his
name on the wife. These are all his
properties to dispose of as he wished.
This was Roman law. That's what is at
the base of much of western law. Roman
law. So that's how women were
considered. In fact, in the middle ages
in in Europe, Christian scholars, monks
and others were debating whether women
had souls.
Whether women had souls or not. They
were debating it. I mean, were they
human beings in the sense of males?
So when we consider that Islam gave
women the right to own property and
dispose of that property 1,400 years
ago.
That is that is a miracle in itself.
That was a revolution.
Something which went against the norm
for societies throughout the world and
continued against the norm for another
1,400 years.
So keep that in mind before you attack
that system.
Secondly, second thing to keep in mind
is that in Islam, if a man dies and
leaves wealth behind, he is not free to
dispose of that wealth.