Fasting – Laylatul-Qadr And Zakat Al-Fitr
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Channel: Bilal Philips
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The importance of fasting in building a spiritual connection with God is emphasized, along with negative consequences of monkism and Grace. Prayer and spending money on healthy deeds are also important for prosperity. The pandemic has had a negative impact on the company's financial results and outlook, but the first quarter is expected to be the lowest point in the year. The company is focused on reducing debt and investing in the future, creating value for shareholders, and continuing to grow their business. They will provide updates as market conditions warrant.AI Generated Transcript ©
So many feminism, lots
of praise and due to a law and a lot of Peace and blessings, young Islamic prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and and all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day
this morning lecture will be concerning fasting purpose
Laila to father
and the Catholic Church
since we are in the month of fasting Ramadan,
landless and father
in these days and the the cost of capital is something which will also be obliged to give in a very short period of time, that is the end of Ramadan.
I would like to discuss or present to you the general view on factoring in Islam.
Allah, Allah says in the Quran,
Vina Armando cookie gala, camassia mo amo, kamakoti, violin Lavina
Oh, you believe
fasting has been prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, the nations the people, the profit before you, in order that you may develop is
fear of God, consciousness of God.
So this defines for us. What is the fundamental purpose of fasting.
It is not a physical thing fundamentally. Though there are physical benefits.
In the medical profession, they can explain for us much of the physical benefits which come from factoring.
However, the primary benefit,
the goal of fasting is a spiritual goal. That of developing a consciousness of God, strengthening that consciousness for those who are already having
taqwa.
And what in practice is doing is training us spiritually, to give up the things which we love,
of the material world,
for the sake of God, who we should love overall.
Because face to face,
involves loving God, more than we love any one or anything in this life. This is true faith.
Of course, that love is not love as we may feel to a wife, to a child, to our parents,
which is more an emotional attachment which is based on genealogical relationships, because you are married to this person, because this child was born for you. I mean, these are
physical, genealogical relationships which tie you and bond you with the people around you. However, the love of God is a different kind of love
is the love, which is fundamentally a love of submission, a love of obedience. It is a different kind of love. It's the kind of love which causes us to do what is pleasing to God,
even if it is displeasing to us.
rationally, we do this in our daily lives, we will choose to do things which are displeasing to us, because rationally we know that they are beneficial for us. If a doctor prescribes for our medicine,
the medicine may be very horrible tasting.
But we know that it is for our benefit. So we take it anyway.
To hear when it has to do with our material world, our material life, our physical health, we will do things that we don't like
the distasteful to us, we don't like it, we will do it. Because we know it is beneficial for us.
The love of God is within that realm, the realm of an intellectual law because you cannot love God like as I said, You love your father, you love your sister, your brother, you know
That is between people. God, the Creator of the universe is beyond that.
You know, I know some of you coming from Christian backgrounds, you know, where people tend to think of God in a in a personal relationship where you know, God is with you all the time talking to you in your ear, you have impersonal conversations with God. This is a mistaken notion.
God is not talking to any of us. God talk to the Prophet.
That was called revelation. And the Prophet conveyed to us.
The message from God
is not talking to you and I, you know, every day you as you're cooking your food, or you're going to work or no, no, if you're hearing somebody talking to you, no, this is not God. This is Satan.
Is this a thing whispering?
Is not God.
The prophets of God, they carried the Word of God to man.
And I, Allah explained in the Quran,
the love, if we have true love of God, it is manifest in submission, he said, including from social Muna law, but who need your diploma is it is that you love a law,
then follow the messenger of a law, and the law will love you.
You have to follow the way of the messenger for a law to love you. This is why Jesus is often quoted as saying,
I am the way,
the truth and the life.
If he This is what Jesus was telling the people, I am the way I have brought the way if you want God's love you if you want to reach God, you must follow that way. He wasn't saying worship me, is what people misunderstood, and ended up worshipping wasn't telling them that all of the prophets of God, they told their people that they represented the way in Arabic That way is called Sunnah
is called the Sunnah, which means the way, the way of the Prophet. And every believer in Islam is required to follow fundamentally two things in Islam. One, the Koran, which is the book of Revelation, and to the Son of the Prophet, the way of the Prophet, which is explanation of that revelation, in words and in action, for the masses of people how to implement, how to put the scripture into practice.
So
the fasting
is to develop a consciousness of God, which would produce enough a willingness to submit to the commandments of God,
to develop the consciousness, because
only God knows we are fasting.
We can pretend, not eating in front of everybody. But you know, when we go to our homes, we can have a bike at home and then come back out. You know, even on the job, you can slip in the bathroom, take some water, take a drink, you know, eat some candy, whatever.
Nobody knows whether you're actually fasting or whether you're just pretending. But God knows. What prevents you from eating is the knowledge that God knows and God has described this for you. And so you abstain. You restrain yourself from eating or drinking or having sexual relations during the day light hours of this month of Ramadan.
And,
as I said,
it is fundamentally training us spiritually,
to give up
the love of certain material things,
for the sake of God, for the love of God.
Not that we give up those things. But we give up the love of God things which reaches a level where it makes us disobedient to God.
All the different loves that we have, the emotions that we have, these are all God given.
God has created us with these. And he's not going to punish us for these desires that we have. But we are punished when we do not control those desires. And we
go against the law of God based on the desire to fulfill these desires.
This is why in Islam, we have no monasticism. We have no nun, low monks, because this is very artificial, it is going against the nature of men. It is the nature of men to be married to have children, etc. When you take people aside and say for you, religious people, you do not marry, you know, the nuns wear a ring with signify that they are married to Jesus. And the men also no marriage.
What does that go to do?
those desires that they have, are going to come out in some negative way. And that's what happens. You have now books written by famous nuns in America and in England, about the lesbian ism that is going on in the the nunneries.
The corruption that is coming out from the mail piece, we have many cases in America, in Canada today, we're priests are on trial now for molesting young boys. Because these desires are going to come out, you cannot crush them. They are natural desires God has created if you prevent people from fulfilling them in a legitimate way, then they are going to fulfill them in an illegitimate way. So this is why Islam, it does not encourage total abstinence and just giving up totally any of the normal desires God has created in us, but only keeping them under control.
That we fulfill them in a path which is pleasing to God, pleasing to God, not that God needs us to do this.
If you want me to be pleasing to us other things which are beneficial to us, what is pleasing to God is not what is beneficial to him. Because there is no way we can benefit God.
There is nothing that we can do that can benefit God.
So whatever good we do is for our own benefit.
And that's what God says many places in the Quran, you read a lot says whatever good you do is for your own benefit.
You save your own soul.
We cannot do anything for God to benefit God.
It is pleasing to God, in the sense that this is what is best for men. God has informed us has ordained for us that we do these things. Because it is best for men. We submit our wills to him,
believing that whatever he has commanded us to do, whatever he has instructed us to do is for our own benefit, so we willingly do it. So this is what the fasting is training us in. It is training us in controlling our desires, the things which are pleasing to us,
in order to please the Creator,
the creator of us and our desire,
the greater purpose
and the problem.
He had given us a
advice,
which we can see is the foundation of this same principle. He said fujimaki narrow Vishwas they help fire is surrounded and veiled by the desirable thing.
Bahaji back in Genoa to build Makati and Paradise is surrounded, unveiled, covered by things which we often don't like.
What does this mean? It means that Paradise is not cheap.
You have to work for it. You have to go against your desires. Hell is cheap.
You want to go to hell, it's very cheap. You just do anything you desire. Right? You make your desires your garden, you're on the path to hell very easy. But the path to Paradise is a difficult path that one has to struggle with one stop choosing righteousness over evil. It is not something you know, coming from a Christian background we were taught that as long as you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, in that paradise finished, very cheap.
Only you accept finished doesn't matter what you do after that these are not determining whether you go to Paradise or hell. It is just the Accept flow. This is not like that.
This is not what the prophets of God taught. The prophets of God are
After that, we have to work righteousness.
righteousness is a product of faith. As Jesus was quoted as saying that you judge this the tree by its fruit.
If the fruit is rotten, you have a rotten tree. If the fruit is good, you have a good treat.
If the faith is correct, then it produces righteous deeds, it's beneficial to people. If the faith is wrong, then it produces evil harm.
There may be some good doesn't mean that the evil tree only produces evil, there may be some good in there, but overall it is evil.
The second principle that I would like to speak on this one is that of layer two
layer level cover, which means the Knights of power drafted in English.
This is the knife
in which the Koran was revealed, this is the first significance of this man.
When God first revealed the final book of revelation to mankind, it was on the night of laylatul father called Laila to father, the Knights of power.
So this night, primarily has significance to us as being the night in which that final revelation, the guidance,
the constitution for mankind, till the last day was revealed,
primary importance
this night, God has blessed
His mercy
in his grace,
he increases the rewards for certain deeds done at certain times.
As
acts of mercy and grace.
Grace is not an arbitrary thing.
In Islamic scheme of things, Grace, God's grace is for those who deserve it.
He doesn't give this grace to those who don't deserve it. He gives to those who deserve it.
The profit, they got peace and blessings be upon him informed his companions
that none of us will enter Paradise merely on the basis of our deeds.
That is, if
that was two way rd. On a scale of one good deed or one side, one evil deed on the other side.
None of us would have the scale of good deeds outweighing the scale of evil deeds. None. The compilers ask, even you or messenger realize that even
Roger says by the grace of God, that we enter Paradise. What happens is that God multiplies the value of our good deeds. God says in the Koran that each would need is worth 10 times its value. God multiplies the reward of goodies. So this is how his grace is manifest, so that our good deeds will outweigh our evil deeds if it is 141.
And this is why we're always encouraged to follow up any evil deed that we do with a good deed to erase the evil. If we do something wrong, something displeasing to God, it is not enough for us merely to ask God's forgiveness or God forgive me. No, you should follow it up with righteousness, you should then try and find some good things to do.
To help remove the sin of the evil that you have done. This is the way of the righteous.
So Ramadan this month, which is a black blood month, a month of fasting a month, in which the Quran was revealed. The value of good deeds done in this month are increased.
As such problems after lunch said, for example, that one who makes over in Ramadan
gets the reward of those who made Hajj along with the Prophet.
You know the Hydras the prophet may
The pilgrimage which he made the Mecca, he had many of his companions with him, the reward that those Gods being with him
one who makes over in Ramadan will get a similar reward. See, this is the multiplication of these done value of deeds done in Ramadan.
Beyond that,
Allah says in the
Laila to poverty, hi Roman, Tisha,
the Knights of power worship on that night,
not the regular Asia, but worship where one gets up in the night and prays. And Laila to cousin is worth the worship of 1000 months. Sorry, yes, 1000 months, I'll fish 1000 months, 1000 months is, what 83 years and four months.
That is a lifetime. In other words, is that if we put it in practical terms, it means that worship in that night is equivalent to the worship of a lifetime. Most of us don't make it to 83.
Average age in the West is 75. In the third world countries is maybe 65.
To 83 years and four months worship is a lifetime plus.
But God does not want us to become mathematical Muslims.
You know, where we make this calculation with the home, and we get this little cousin we go to worship for the rest of our life.
You know, so we just wait for this little brother, we just pray on that night. And then we can just do anything he wants for the rest of my life? No. Because of that, God did not let us know what night is a little further.
It may be the 25th. It may be the 27th. It may be the 29th.
The government does well and informed us. It is in the odd nights of the last of these 10 days of Ramadan. But he didn't specify exactly which ones I know, in many Muslim countries, people think it's the 27th because they've got caught up in the mathematics. So they said 27 on the calendar and later to Qatar and the mathematical Muslims worship on that night.
But in fact, we don't know.
We don't know exactly when it is sure that we will strive it's an encouragement to us to try all of the nice.
We're not searching.
Not only are we not searching in that sense, but also in the beginning of Ramadan, it is very strong, the sighting of the moon,
witness of somebody who cited the moon is sufficient for us to start the month.
That person is human, could they not make a mistake?
Yes,
it is not critical in terms of the month of fasting for us, because we still grow much faster. If that person made a mistake, we begin the month the person in spite, we don't know. But that possibility exists, which means that even the 27th may be the 26th or the 28th.
And that's why it is not enough, even too fast are to stay up in prayer, only the admin.
So if we want to take advantage of this grace from God,
then especially those last five nights,
we should stay up in prayer all of them.
This is a special gift from God. Let us take advantage of it.
The third point was that of the captain sitters and I know there was some misunderstanding from a previous lecture about the castle sitter and forgotten sitter and people were wondering what is this name and that name, the castle sitter, capital Fisher are one and the same thing
is the same thing
is referred to
The
food which is given
after the ending of Ramadan, the next very next day which is a before the prayer of
the prayer, the food which is given by
all Muslims who have something to give
that is for the person fitter or the castle fitter.
Now, this the castle structure is different from what we call the castle man, the castle man, when people use the term just zeca it really refers to the castle man or charity which is given from our wealth that the castle in my mouth is once every year, we give 2.5% of our surplus
earnings
in charity,
if it is beyond
500 or 1000. Durham's, if we have beyond that in that region, then we give 2.5% of its yearly to the poor, not to some free to pay for the schooling of his children to buy his house and his car No, this is given to the poor to the needy. This is way which God causes wealth to circulate
to develop in the the mind and the sole of the believers a willingness to be generous to share what they have with those who don't have
the capital sitter's is for anyone who is able
as long as you have something
in more than enough to eat, then you are required to give
on that day, and watch you're required to give in Arabic is called a saw, this is a volume weight, whose value is calculated as madang that is two handfuls
of course, two heaping handfuls this today is calculated as approximately two and a half kilos of grain farmers our fellow had said that because of sychar farm in the summer outside militia here that is a with
two heaping handfuls of dates
or of
wheat,
barley, you know any of what new scholars are big enough to to mean whatever is the normal
staple of the country. For example, in Philippines the staple is right,
as the staple the thing which everybody's eating daily, most common thing. So it would be then given farm rights, wherever you are, you give some and some people say oh Can we just give it value is value is approximately calculated by dollar bill as being tender on
this, but
we are really instructed not to just give it value, but to give the actual food itself. Either we go and purchase that food and give to those who we need.
We No need. Or we give the money to somebody who has committed themselves to purchase for us say in bulk and give to those in need.
We know that because in the Prophet Muhammad Salah time there was money, and he didn't instruct us to just give money. But he instructed us to give food,
food, because this is a time of eating the breaking of the past is a time of celebration of that month of fasting we break it by having a meal together in that day.
And we are instructed to give when share with others who are less fortunate than us in order that they may also partake of that breaking of the fast eating, set giving thanks to God on the day of eat.
In summary,
fasting, we said primarily was to develop the spiritual
characteristic
of the true believer
who is one who constantly seeks to please God in whatever he or she does.
The pleasure of God is foremost, if they have to choose between doing this, or that
this is pleasing to God they know and that is displeasing to God, they choose what is pleasing to God over what is this cable to God, even if what is displeasing to God is pleasing to them, pleasing to their friends, to their family, etc, etc, the pleasure of God is foremost in their minds. This is the fundamental characteristic of righteous. That means, practically speaking, as Muslim,
we have instructions,
which govern all of our daily lives.
Those instructions range from dress codes, to eating codes, to social gathering codes, where a variety of different things economic, economical codes, we have a series of codes, which govern all aspects of our life.
How do we approach these codes? Do we do that what of them what is pleasing to us? And we not don't do what is not pleasing to us.
God ordained for example, for women that they wear scarves
cover their hair,
connected with a garment, which covers their bodies.
This is the dress code
prescribed by God.
It was the dress code of Mary and the women around Jesus was the dress code of the righteous woman in history.
So how do we approach this dress code?
We modify it, we change it, we do have this what we feel like
and don't do what we don't feel like no, this is not the characteristic of the believer.
The characteristic of the believer is that he or she
believes firmly that this code was ordained by God and it is best for me and for the society. So I will submit to it no matter what difficulty I may say,
it involves overcoming some of my desires, because I have been raised in a society which tells me that I should have my hair out I spend big money in the beauty salons, you know, beautifying my hair, etc, etc. So I go out and people are attracted and you know, impressed by me and my hair. Right? This is the hair business is a big, big, big commercial business.
That's how we have been raised.
So naturally, when a person becomes Muslim, this is a struggle.
A woman will be faced with having to now overcome her upbringing.
And of course, Satan will put all kinds of excuses in our minds. Why not? Oh, you don't look good. Let's make use of you know, your beauty and making you look ugly. You know, or It's hot. It's making you feel hot, you find yourself hot, sweating all the time. It's too hot, you know, whatever you find theta will be whispering in your ear, all kinds of little things to just make you feel better.
But
though the believer who has submitted her will to God
is one who overcome these whisperings
who knows that the commandments of God
is for her betterment regardless of the difficulty she may find.
Similarly, in the case of men, there are just clothes also. I know commonly speaking, people tend to think that
the way Islam is explained to us that the dress code is that for the woman was the money can learn anything. That's not the case. There are particular dress codes for men.
And no jet codes are in principle.
Just as actually for the women. It is not a requirement that the woman wear black.
Although it is common in this part of the world when black is not a requirement that it needs black. But there are principles inter involved in that dress that outer garments.
That the purpose of the ultra garments is
for modesty.
So that when a man looks at you, he is not turned on sexually
is not attracted from a sexual point of view. He may be impressed. He may look at you but but it's more from a respectful and an impressive point of view.
Because of the modesty that is there, the respect given to the nuns in society, we know
because of what is associated with them, and modesty,
it's a similar thing when a woman covers herself in the proper way, then she will find a similar respect.
Of course, there will be difficulties coming with it, there are some people will be opposed to discovering they don't want to to cover like this, for one reason or another, they say panic, the evil forces will be working on her trying to make her give it up.
But because of her submission, she overcomes these things and makes her dress in line with the principles of Islamic dress.
Similarly, for the men, the dress code requires that what they wear cover their private parts, specifically within the region of the navel and the knee.
within that region, this is specifically to be covered by their
garments.
And a garment that covers that region is one which is so loose that when they walk, when they bend, when they sit etc, it is not the Goddess is not going to hug that area.
Whereas the fashion, the style encourages people to wear garments, which will hug that area and accentuate the sexual parts of the body.
So it is not permissible for a Muslim man to wear tight pants. Pants which are going to expose his fibers because to say you are covering if a woman were to wear, you know, one of these workout suits, right, you know, this spray on like suits. You know, as you say, I'm covered. This is not covered. Similarly with the man if he's wearing pants that look like somebody sprayed it on his body, and this is what's covered. This is not acceptable coverage.
So this is why you find in many of the Muslim cultures, where it was common for the people to wear pants, they wore tops which came down and were longer came out, they didn't tuck it in their their pants, but they came out and covered that area to ensure that they were properly covered. Furthermore, there is a requirement in terms of the nail dress that is not the below the ankle, the above the ankle.
And for men, this is a signal. Because the style is to have your pants, you know down and almost lagging on the ground. This is a style
until you find your people men don't want to give this up. Because why they have not truly submitted
through submission means that you're not submitting to what is in fashion. You know what is fashionable, you submit to what is not fashionable, you don't submit you know, true submission means that you conform to the commandments of God with regard to all aspects of your life, to the greatest degree possible, the greatest degree that you are able. So
this is just an example I gave, we have examples that can go into the economics of our lives, the nodes, the social relations, etc. A variety of examples just giving one common example.
However, the basic point is that fasting is to develop the consciousness of God to make the individual, male or female, aware of God,
aware of God so that they will make the right choice. They will do the right thing.
We said are in the last night of the last 10 days of Ramadan. We should try to stay up in those nights, all of them. Don't take one number and think we're That's it? No, because it's not known.
It is a blessing from God's grace from God that we should try to take advantage of and the castle system. Each and every one of us who have any
means
to purchase grain worth in their homes or give to an organization which is collecting and purchasing should do so.
Those who
don't have
enough for their daily needs, they are eligible to receive the second.
With that inshallah, I will
stop and allow you an opportunity now to ask any questions that you would like to ask
regarding
the fasting
may lead to the collapse of fitness. And if we have no questions in this area, we'd like to ask any general questions concerning Islam and it's practices, then we can go to general questions.
We don't know.
There are no special signs I know people talk about you, you know, you see life as you said in the sky, or you have these special feelings and No, no.
Your life will be changed.
See, when you come out of Ramadan,
if your Ramadan was blessed, for months, I tell them said that from Ramadan, Ramadan, fasting, worship,
remove the sin of what is between them. It's a purification process. So if you come out of Ramadan, and you're back to your old life,
doing what you were doing before Ramadan, then you know, there is no grace there.
It has not affected us has not changed you
is the same thing with our prayers.
Allah says in the Quran, in the fall, our son had in fact showered winter, very early prayer. Regular prayer
prevents us from evil speech and evil good.
So if you see someone who makes these five signs, he prays he comes out and he's cursing This one is spreading rumors about that one, you know, she is just slandering this one and what is the value of that prayer is not acceptable prayer to God. The problem castellum says God does not need our
hunger, our thirst.
He doesn't need us to be hungry and thirsty.
What he wants from us is that submission.
There are some people that said the past Ramadan and all they get out of Ramadan is hunger and thirst.
Those are those who come out of Ramadan in the month of fasting, the same way they went in no change.
The change is a spiritual change, which affects our character, how we deal with people, how we communicate with people, all of this is reflected in that spiritual change.
So
the knowledge of whether we receive that grace or not, ultimately is on the Day of Judgment, which is only for us to strive to do our best to try to achieve whatever benefits that God has offered us in this life.
If he The reason also why it is not known to us.
Because
if you think that you caught the lotto.
Now, you become maybe overconfident. I caught a little cover.
Expose not enough it's not known to you it is left unknown to you. So you don't become overconfident and
Then become lazy, which will enable
because you've got layers of poverty buried in your pocket. Now, your family they have judgments, you can stand before God with having achieved know
that this is how Satan can easily cause us to deviate. Even though we start off with a good intention, Satan causes the VA, we don't get out of it what we should be getting. So it is not known.
Of course, they said, Satan will come to people
and give them that impression. If they were, their eyesight may be affected, and they see stars you know, in the sky and you know, lights flashing, and there's a little further
from Satan,
from Satan,
to make that person overconfident and no longer wants to slide, because they're sure now they have this huge rewards,
choices left unknown to us. It is only for us each and every year, to strive in that time, for striving that time, not only for that time,
but to develop the characteristic of playing at night
when everybody else has gone to sleep,
playing at night, because that is the time when
if there are no needy Muslims,
then of course it is possible just as with the cost give to those who are not Muslim, and those who may be interested in Islam, you know, as what they call for letting them understand something of the generosity of Islam, but the first responsibility is of giving to those who are Muslim just as a person, it doesn't mean that Muslims don't like non Muslim so we're not kind to non Muslims. No, but that charity, as they say, begins at home.
So how can you be charitable people outside your home and you're not charitable to those who are who you have to take care of those who are your brothers and sisters first. And then those others you know, who are also when people are searching outside your families you give to them also.
For
most people
they are
I don't know.
We are going outside the station to worship.
Allah says in the Quran
in monaca, Tina reduction at eliminate
verily
the hypocrites those who pretend to be Muslim, they're praying and such as such as, but they don't believe
inside. That's why they're involved in all kinds of evil, the worst of evil outside. They will be on the lowest levels of the Hellfire, there will be fewer for the hellfire.
This is why we always insist that people understand
Paradise is not for everyone, simply because they have the name Muslim.
Because you are in a Muslim family all because you say you're a Muslim that means you are paradise No.
Paradise is only for the righteous.
Paradise is only for the righteous. So you will find on the Day of Judgment. Many people who in this life call themselves Muslim in house, fueling the fire for health in a worse situation than some who didn't believe in God will never call themselves Muslim.
At the same time, we should all realize that we are human beings.
And it doesn't mean that because we have established the prayer, now we have become Angel.
Right? Never committing any mistakes. No one's human beings. So let's just not go now and start to judge people, this one made a mistake, you're going to hell? That's what No, no, no, it's not why people make mistakes, we The important thing is that they realize their mistakes, return back to God asking us forgiveness, and they strive to do more good to change themselves. But of course, as we said,
the required practices of Islam are all there to develop the spiritual quality of the individual
to build his or her link with God.
If those practices are done, properly, prayer, fasting, charity, etc, then it will build that link and it will change the person
this is for us to know
we have a gauge because people wonder, am I benefiting from this fair, am I benefiting from this fast thing Am I benefiting is any of us any purpose we are
if we find that it is not changing,
then it means that we're not doing it properly, that we need to improve the quality of the service.
In one way or another, we need to improve it, we need to improve the quality of our past
we need to improve the quality of our charity.
So this is a gauge that we can use for ourselves, which God gave us in the Quran, that when we pray properly, it should affect the way that we communicate with people the way that we deal with them. I thought Muhammad Abdullah advisors
polyalkylene higher, only, of course,
we should either speak good, or be silent.
Try to make this a principle in life.
Good, or be silent. Avoid seeking evil.
As much as possible.
We try to make sure whatever comes out of our mouth is good. Because it's very easy for us to say a thing which we consider to be very small, but this thing has an effect, which may end up causing us going to hell in the next slide.
Natasha Psalm one he says, you know, it is the harvest of our toes, which will take us well.
So, be careful Watch what you say.
The speaker has mentioned
multiplied by the number of people in the house
Yes, sorry, I forgot to add that that is the capital city which we calculated we said I send your home this is given by the head of the household for each member of his family by the way his immediate family he gives for his wife, his children for each and every member of his family, right. Some of you may have children for example in the Philippines, you give for those children in the Philippines.
So as for each member of the family, if you don't have the means then you are amongst those who have the right to receive.
So you put your list name on the list of those receiving data for as long as you have the means to give what is the value of 10 Durham's for each member of your family, then this should be given to those who are less fortunate
as
well.
Okay, first point of other raising, you know, concerning the the capital sector
was that again?
Okay, if we didn't pay it
The castle sitter actually is not
compulsory, it is something which is highly recommended, sometimes all that it is compulsory, but there is no punishment, which has been set aside for those who don't pay it, you know, not as in the case of Zika is the cause of your wealth. If we don't pay it, the punishment is that according to this in the Islamic State, half of your wealth will be taken from you and given
the Congress with the law, if you have missed it, you have missed the opportunity for goods,
the rewards that you would have gotten your blood.
But if for example, you have good intention, you know, this is why ultimately in Islam, deeds, as above, as Alan said, are judged by their intention, because you could have the intention to give you're going to the prayer tomorrow, for example, tomorrow, Israel, we know the breakfast tonight, and we're going to have the effect tomorrow. And the best time to give it is on the way to Israel, or before the prayer. So you have the intention to do this. But in the morning, you get up you're sick, you can't get out of your bed, you cannot go and fulfill it. You know nobody you're living on your own, you're you don't have a telephone, you can't call anybody to just please do it for me and
you know,
so you miss the chance.
Allah will reward you for your intention.
You may get more reward for that intention than the people who gave
because your intention was more sincere.
So God knows best our circumstances. And he ultimately is the judge.
With regards to the lender to posit salon here at Thermopylae, you know,
where Allah describes that night, being a night of peace until the morning,
if a person
gets up in the night to pray.
And that prayer represents at that period of time, the ultimate in submission to God.
If the prayer is sincere, they're going to feel peace.
They're going to feel peace. So we're not going to say that this is the particular fire. So it is only Atlanta to others, that there is peace until the morning. No.
It is not only a layer of others.
But layer two culture has that characteristic also.
But it's not a particular characteristic that we say other nice there is no piece of budget only a layer from others.
Again, that would become delusionary, we would tend to think that oh we can't live other we know now for sure this was a little harder, because we felt peace we didn't feel peace last night.
Why'd
you come to it? It is not really for them, it's for yourself. What it is, is you're giving more and you're asking maybe Allah to guide your family. So and so, you know as part of the blessing from this act that you are doing, which is more than what is required of you that what is required of us to give for the Muslim members of your family, but those who are non Muslims, you can give not on their behalf because it will not benefit them directly. Right. But you can get the benefit in the sense that allow them reward you for giving more because that's 10. Durham's is the minimum is not to say you cannot give 11 their hands, your hands only 10 no minimum is sent to give more.
If you have more to give you give more, and the law will reward you more. And for that extra reward you can ask a lot, you know because in Islam, it is permissible for us to ask the blessings of Allah based on the righteous deeds that we do. We do something which is purely for Allah with inshallah Allah Allah bless us, we ask Allah please to, you know, guide somebody or to bless somebody or to help somebody, you know, on the basis of this righteous deed as we're doing. This is perfectly permissible
There is not a set amount
because ultimately
prayer
is from our heart
so we pray as much as we can
you know we're not there's not a set number that you should just go on a feeling sleepy, you're falling down and you're just standing up and because you've set this number No, no, no. I mean you pray what you can and then when you reach the point you can pray anymore You take care of us. You know, Islam is very practical is not you know, oppressive religion is making new things that are either
meaningless.
You may join the prayer in the masjid.
What is being played in the masjid because they're praying from midnight onwards, you can join that prayer there. You know, do as much as you can. It's good. If you can continue with the amount of flies you can. But ultimately, again, as I said, the reward for prayer is always in accordance with the sincerity of our intention behind those prayers.
Not necessarily in terms of the numbers, but the
therapy that we put behind the threads themselves.
This is question Do we get more reward for going to oma during Ramadan than we will get for Hajj
necessarily, it might not be
as you which is accepted by God.
Right. dogmas are seldom informed us that it erases all of one's sins, one comes back from like the day you were born, free from sin. Each child when they are born in this life, say something, they're not carrying the sin of Adam and therefore they're not on the line. This is a trick of Satan, to make people think that they are fundamentally evil.
To think that we are basically evil.
So it is much easier for us to be evil.
No, we are born fundamentally good.
free from sin. When a person makes Hajj, which is accepted by Allah. Then one we learned from that had pure from thin like the day we were born.
Right now
the oma in Ramadan is like making Hajj along with the past month. You know when one is with the Prophet, the blessing that one would receive from being in his presence etc. We get a reward similar to that.
But let us not think you know make these calculations thinking that no, this oma is better to do oh my Ramadan has no because oma in Ramadan is something recommended. Hajj is compulsory for those who are able, so it is wrong for a person to make oma and Ramadan instead of making Hajj.
You only have enough money to go to Mecca one time, go for Hajj. Because that is compulsory in Islam. You never played those things which are recommended in front of the things which are compulsory. The compulsory things always come for
somebody who hasn't asked a question before
the prayer is prayer. You know where you stand in prayer. It is
part of it is the what we call the Torah with with the Imam after Isha. Part of it is the letter on the coffee table or the prayer throughout the night. It is combination of both
doesn't mean you give up. And you only go for preamble, you do all as much as you can.
Reading the class, no, you may do this. Love to say you may not do this, you know reading the crime to something virtuous, something beneficial, but better is to pray,
to continue to pray, pray and you pray, you read some, you like to also play some more like this, but to say an act of worship
throughout the night or as much of the night as you can. And the prayer is done in pairs of two to one to
one.
Well, the majority of scholars, Muslim scholars hold that this trend on philosophy says this is not authentic. Don't call it innovation, because there are Hadith which refer to it. However, the Hadith are in their narrations not authentic. So the majority of scholars hold that it is not authentic. It is a recommended prayer, even in the text as it comes to something recommended. So if one did or one didn't do it, there is no harm anyway.
There are some scholars who do hold that there are sufficient evidence is to say that it is
authentic, but they represent the minority.
But it's not innovation. No, we don't consider this as innovation. Innovation rarely involves something which has no basis at all in the religious, you know, no evidence that our practice which has some support, but that the port may not be authentic, or is weak or whatever, we may call this, you know, error. You know, but innovation now involves introducing something new in the religion, which has no basis.
Another question, we have some non Muslim guests with us is are there any questions they would like to ask
any general questions about Islam?
To get some clarification?
Okay, before they give a chance to our non Muslim guests.
If you're shy, you can ask any question. Any question you'd like? You've been hearing things about Islam, whatever you've been reading or this is the first time you have some question in your mind, you'd like to get clear about Islam.
Okay.
Again,
in our kingdom,
our brothers point
that
it is,
as the puppet said, they got this and that's the opinion that one who performs Hajj
comes back from hides
pure from sin,
like the day he or she was born.
Isn't that similar to the Christian concept of Jesus, you know, dying on the cross for our sins. So then people can commit them. So you make hard to commit still they will make another heart and you can commit to the margin?
Well, it isn't from two points.
One, the problems are solved and said the accepted has
had
mob rule,
they the righteous have which is acceptable by God. The righteous had which is acceptable by God can only be done by the righteous.
You can have an evil sinner coming there and doing a righteous it comes back in clinic and goes, No, no, no, it is an evil sinner, he's not going to manage to do a righteous hedge cannot
Jonathan and lemon tree cannot produce apples
This is equitable. So from that principle finish, there is no way
the righteous hides is only done by the righteous.
Second, how do we know that it is accepted when the person comes back change
not as what they were before, but the person comes back and commit sins like he was doing before. But it needs that's the sign that the heart was not accepted.
A person may make hives again but the compulsory has already done. You know that becomes like a voluntary has it's possible to go into voluntary heights.
No, not saying that. But one time is the compulsory requirement fulfilled Prophet Muhammad wa sallam he made one.
Today, people make Hodge's like they go on vacation, you know, they know they go every year goes to have to have
like one vacation you take vacation, you know. And what happens is that it becomes meaningless
rarely becomes a meaningless practice you know and and they will find them when they're talking with each other Oh, how many items did you make five and six, you know, all sorts of it eight and it becomes a numbers game
meaningless.
You know,
once you try one goes for has to make that have proper in the best way possible. That has if it is done properly accepted by God, then it will affect us we will be changed people I know in some cultures.
People try to
make some changes which indicates that they have changed.
In places like Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, many of these countries, the Muslims, the traditional Muslims, when they go for Hajj, if a woman goes for hives, when she comes back, she will then wear her scarf. Up until then she didn't wear a scarf. But when she goes to her she comes back with the men when they go, they will wear some kind of cap after they come back then they always wear this cap and this is known as the Hajji cap, you know this, we call it person hajikko. And so, neither one was made pilgrimage, you know, and had just, you know, for the woman, nonsense, we don't have any signs like that, wearing the scarf is a requirement before has an opera house.
And if a person is only putting it on simply because they need hugs, and they have missed the purpose,
that card becomes an outer ritualistic symbol, which has no spiritual value.
So, they had one
is the accepted has
to, it can only be done by the righteous. Three, it is going to affect the person in such a way that they are changed when they come back. They are not as they were before, this is one of the signs of the accepted hats and forth. There is a difference between you doing a righteous deed to purify yourself and somebody else doing it for you. In the case of Christianity was God became a man in their belief and was killed by men sacrificing himself for the sins of mankind.
What about the people, the people are not doing anything, there's no action on their part, this is God's killing himself to purify people of sin. Whereas when a person is happy, the person is going himself doing the acts himself to try to purify himself. So there is even if we say it is not acceptable or whatever it is different in that the person in Islam,
purification.
absolution from sin is in the hands of men.
We have no priests that we confess to
Many of those priests that are being confessed to are worse than the people who are confessing,
they have no power to forgive, only God can forgive the sin. So, the Islamic principle is that you do righteousness to purify yourself, it is your acts which are righteousness, which will purify you, not somebody else's.
So, even from that point is the fifth point, it is not the same
as somebody else was asked the question
No,
they want to monopolize the question and few people, nobody else would like to ask a question.
Patience, patience.
Okay, our
question concerns those people
who seek to gain the forgiveness of God by self
punishment, inflicting punishment on oneself.
This is not acceptable to God.
This is not acceptable to God. We have a group of people who call themselves Muslims and all that Shiites. They do this also, on Ashura. They go parading through the streets with
knives and beating themselves and doing this is not the religion of God.
Religion of God has not asked us to do this
very sacrifice, but the sacrifice is a spiritual sacrifice, the physical assets will be an animal.
Like on our behalf, we sacrifice an animal in commemoration of Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son,
and we give that needs to the poor. So we sacrifice on a spiritual level, this meeting of oneself fortune was up. This is not from the way of God. The prophets never thought
this was the way common amongst the monks. They do that self torture was torture themselves in one way or another, you know, but it is as No way. For God this is not acceptable by God. We're not going through the pain.
Although there is the concept of pain, purifying one of sin in Islam, I won't say that there is no place for that at all the problems are solved and said that whatever calamity before they deliver,
it removes from them in
glorification, even stepping on a thorn, you know, rose bushes has these points, step on it, there is pain, there is hurt. There is clarification from sin. But this is not deliberate. It doesn't mean you start to put signs on the ground, you're stepping on them thinking, Oh, no, no, no. This is something which happens accidentally, you know, outside of your control. If you are patient.
If you step on the floor to say God Damn, no, no, no, we wouldn't know why this is that's where it's like anything.
If the calamity occurs, you know you're cursing this person and cursing that normal.
Like in the noise is a good chance this happens that Jesus Christ
is calling God you know.
It's like a curse word. So this is not in Islam, when calamity befalls? It purifies us. If we are patient.
If we are patient with it,
it sticks up in our foot.
We instead of screaming out
Some kind of epithets, you know, some bad word is something, we say, Subhana Allah, Glory be to God, you know, remove it, remove it from this, you know, we remember God is the means of reminding us of gods,
you know, is the same thing when a person is sick, we are instructed to say this supplication to them, we say to them, to Warren insha Allah, that may be a source of purification, for your sin, if God is willing.
You know, this is our greeting to them, those who are sick, or having difficulty like physical ailments assess when we say to them, to Horan insha, Allah made this purify, you know, this is if you are patient totally, if you're not patient, then of course, you suffer, and it's no benefits.
This is why the problems as Alan said, that the life of the believer is all good.
And this is only the case of the true believer. If God comes to the to deliver, he or she is thankful to God, and God rewards them. And if evil before them, they are patient.
They are patient, they remember God and our patients, and God rewards them. So the whole life, because our life is between
good and calamity that is our life, we just flipping and flopping between the two, isn't it?
But we are rewarded on both ends, if we are patient in the time of calamity, and if we are thankful in the time of his and good
luck.
When a man and woman
commits adultery
or fornication,
is it necessary to punish them?
Yes, it is the law of God. Not a new law. It is there in the law of Moses. It is a law that has always been because it is an evil. It's an evil in society. So the punishment is there. However,
according to Islamic law, law, the punishment is severe. If a person commits adultery, the punishment is stoning to death, to be stoned to death, publicly.
And if the person commits fornication, it is 100 public lashes to the last publicly 100 times.
Okay,
very severe.
But if you go from the time of the Prophet till today, and add up the number of people who have been punished for adultery and fornication,
because the punishment is only applied, if there are four witnesses.
If there are four witnesses for people who witness that person in the act,
this is not common.
It's not common.
A person who is witnessed by four people in the upgrade deserves that 100 punishment lashes that means so flagrant with their sin, they don't care, you know, people see them they don't see they don't kill terrible, really.
And Islam does not allow for you to go breaking in doors and catching people, you know, we have secret police that breaking the doors and checking of law.
But the law is there generally to discourage people.
If they're generally to discourage people, and because of the law, you'll find that the rates of fornication and adultery is very low amongst Muslims.
It is low,
especially where the law is applied. Of course, in countries where the law is not applied, then of course, the rate may
increase.
But the law is there, primarily, as you said, as a deterrent, to discourage. So you think to yourself if I am caught, I made the last 100 times or maybe so that if you make a mistake of negotiation, I should discourage you from doing but if you have a feeling well, doesn't matter, nobody's gonna say anything, nobody's gonna do anything. Then this is further encouragement. You know, it's not to say that the law itself produces righteousness, but the law has to be there.
system has to be there, especially for the weaker members of society.
Most people don't do crime for fear of being caught, not because they don't feel that crime is bad.
In most societies, most people don't do crime, for fear of being caught, because the policemen are walking around and they fear a policeman, but there's no policeman around since a Snickers, they think they can do it and get away with it, they'll do it. So it's showing you that they're not doing it
out of
fear of God or belief that this is bad, but only out of fear of being caught. And it is necessary in society, that the law be there to put fear in the hearts of good people, who will not give up evil for the sake of God,
or for knowing that it is in fact evil.
Okay,
the punishment, in the case of lashing there will be somebody who is designated by the state, as the person who does lashing.
The person who may be stalling, this is public, it's done in a public place, you know, they bring a gravel truck, they dumped it and people pick up stones and throw anybody I know the principle that maybe you are reaching out is that he who is without sin, let he who is without sin throw the first stone, okay? Now, this is a, this is a principle which is been, you know, put into the Bible to discourage the concept of punishment.
But, fundamentally, the idea is that
all of us are sinners, this is true.
But the fact that all of us are sinners, doesn't mean that society doesn't punish those who break its laws.
Because once you remove
the system, the criminal legal system from a society, then you end up in chaos.
People just running amok.
And it becomes the law of the jungle.
You know, that's the law of the jungle, the jungle, there are no laws, the lion eats whoever he can catch. Right? You know, he's not limited only to eat, you know, deer and he doesn't eat No, no eats anything you can catch, as the law of the jungle, survival of the strongest.
Whoever has the most power or force, whatever, they're the ones who get away. They're the ones who are able to oppress other than take their wealth, and such as this is chaos.
So the laws are there, to protect the society.
To protect the society,
we should be careful not to
blame people, or to identify people as sinners, when we don't have evidence. Because in Islam, though, we have this law of 100 lashes, we're personally committed fornication, or the death for the adultery, or adultery. If somebody says, in Islamic law, if somebody says, so and so is committing fornication, or committing adultery, and that information is taken to the court, then that person is required to either produce four witnesses, or they are
880 times in public.
Understand, if I say about you, to somebody else, that this woman, she's committed adultery resource or she's committed fornication. If you hear that I said this, and you take it to the court. And there is witness that I said, if then the court will require me to produce either for witnesses that you did, in fact, do this, or I will be publicly last at times.
So, this takes care of less he who is without sin. So the first stone in the sense that we should not slander other people say things about other people without evidence, but if there is evidence,
then those who commit the grave sins in the society are to be punished for the sake of the society as a whole. But now for example, if a woman
for example, is stoned to death or a man and they
Were stoned to death because they voluntarily gave themselves up.
Then that stoning purifies them of their sins. This is explained in the time of purpose, Mohammed mega, this is actually a finding, there was a woman who came to the prophet and said, I have committed adultery. So apply the law of God.
And he wanted to make sure he said I you sure maybe you only just keep him on the high commission. He gave her a chance to take the way out even you know, but she was insistent, no, I did it. I want the law of God license. So she was pregnant. When he said, you come back after you've delivered the child.
You gave her a chance to go and let's come back. Because they were sending people to follow her up and stay and wait for her to deliver this out.
She delivered a shot, she came back.
Still insistent on applying the law of God in itself. So the Prophet then said, Okay, now the child in Islam is breastfed for two years.
So he says, come back after you finish breastfeeding your child.
She went back three years past rested the child, she came back, she still gave her a chance to get back to come back. But she still came back.
So at that point, now the only thing left is to apply the law. So he had her side, they bought the stones and people told her to them in the course of stalling her some blood on the
stroke of one of the people who are starting it, and he crushed the blood.
Now because this was a sinful woman, so he cursed that blood, the Prophet Muhammad said don't curse the blood of the woman. Because if the sentence that she made were divided up over the inhabitants of the city of Medina, which is where the traffic was, it would be enough to carry them out to paradise.
So, when a person voluntarily takes the application of the law on themselves, you know for the sake of God, clarifying themselves it is
clarification.
So,
this is the the law but we should also understand the principles behind them.