Division - Every Muslims Middle Name

0:00This audio is brought to you by Muslim Central. Do not judge anyone unless you have heard their context. When you study the context, not that it justifies, but it mitigates. Even the most obvious mistake or heresy or evil should not be judged at face value until Deba Yun is done. Learn the art of Deba Yun. Normative Sunni Islam has never said that playing a guitar is going to throw you into jahendam. If Palestinians burning, I am bashing those sisters that have one hair showing. Because there's nothing else they can do. Scholarship is not the only way to contribute to the Ummah. You don't have to give up everything and become a scholar. Brothers, many of the sins you do are worse than a sister struggling with the headscarf. SayyAllah wa sallam wa rahsula wa sallam wa ara wa sallam wa rahsula wa ala'a'alihi wa sahbihi wa min wa l-hamabadi. Today, I just wanted to give a brief reminder that will actually be useful for inshallah all aspects including sectarianism. So it's not just for sectarianism, but it's a brief reminder and also it's open Q&A. So look at the QR code.

1:01Jayaid, a brief point of benefit that is from our religion and from common sense. And that is the issue of Deba Yun, clarification. And this is especially pertinent for sectarian issues, but it is actually pertinent for every facet of your life. It is an Islamic principle. What is that principle? Do not judge anyone or anything unless you have heard their perspective and their context and their excuse. Now this you would think is common sense. You would think it is common sense, but you and I both know that theory is different than reality and myself and you and all of us have fallen prey to this reality. Somebody sends us what's up video. Somebody tells us, oh you know what happened such and such. You know what somebody said and they tell you the five words, the six sentences they said without context, without anything.

2:02And even though you know Islam says the Prophet's system demonstrated and even human interactions and the judge, I mean this is how all law works. No matter whatever you are charged of, you are not guilty until you are put in front of a trial, a judge, a jury and you present your case. That's how the world works. Ideally, but realistically we are hasty. Realistically we judge and we are jury and executioner instantaneously. And this causes untold anguish, problems and so many arguments and misunderstanding. In fact, the fact of the matter is actually this is even an issue that affects couples. How quickly you just judge a phrase. You just in one sentence is said and perhaps even it was said in error, it was a mistake, but immediately there is a counter reaction. And the shari'a teaches us that there's something called tabayun. Tabayun clarification.

3:04Find out, ask no matter how obvious it might appear before you pass a judgment, clarify. And the Qur'an itself says, tabayyun verify, find out or else you might do something in haste and you will cause untold damage. And this occurred in the lifetime of the Prophet of Allah, where he sent an inexperienced person. He made a mistake, the inexperienced person was, he was told to collect some funds from the tribe. So when he approached, the tribe had been waiting for him for hours or days and they were so happy to see him, they started galloping towards him to welcome him. And he interpreted the galloping towards him as an attack. So he got frightened and he turned his horse back and he returned back. He said, Ya Rasulullah, you sent me to collect their funds. They were going to attack me. He didn't lie. But the perception he had, he sees all of these horses running, right?

4:07And he just panics and he turns his horse around and he rushes back to Medina and he says something that is not the truth but neither is it a lie. It is a perception and imagine if the Prophet's s.m. had said, Khalas, they have reneged, they have broken the covenant. Khalas, no, said find out, send somebody and they came and said, what happened Ya Rasulullah, we saw your messenger, he turned and fled, what happened? They were confused. They couldn't understand. This is called tabayyun, find out what happened and Allah revealed in the Quran, Surah Pajurat, Allah revealed commandments for this. And the whole Syirah teaches us, the Prophet s.m. never pronounced a verdict on somebody until he found out, until he called the person and found out the context. And sometimes the context is exonerated and sometimes it didn't. That's the reality, you have to find out. So and there's a famous incident in Sahib al-Hadi that a woman came,

5:07you know, complaining about her husband so long, Hadi, I mean, we can go into that another time. But she basically said, Ya Rasulullah, my husband does this and he doesn't do this, and he prays, doesn't pray for Jantar. She gave a list of things that the average person would hear, he would be like, my God, what a bad husband you have, right? And the Prophet s.m. said, call him for me. So when the man came and each of what she said, she said factually, correct, she was not lying. She wasn't lying. She was speaking a truth. But in her perception, by the way, much of human miscommunication occurs because of perception. Much anger, much animosity, much argumentation. It's not necessarily the clip was wrong. It's that you're not looking at it in context. You're not understanding the entire paradigm. And of course, this is extremely pertinent in our entire series on sectarianism. Because 90% of interest sectarian issues, oh, they say this, they say this, they say this. And you cut it out from their context.

6:08And they might actually even say it. They might actually even say it. Not that I'm exaggerating what they say. But when you study why they say it, when you study the context, not that it justifies, but it mitigates. And in that mitigation, your anger would have been 100. It'll go down to like 10, 10, 15. You see the difference, right? Your accusations of heresy will be clear cut when you understand all of a sudden, okay, you know what, that's weird, but I get where you're coming from and may Allah forgive you. It changes your whole paradigm, right? That's all I'm saying that when it comes to these issues, Tebeyun understand. So here's the lady that came and said, Erosulama has been, doesn't pray for a good time and he doesn't let me fast. He, this and that. And the process him, clarified from him, what are you doing this for? Every single accusation was correct, but partially correct. And when the entire context was given, the man is basically exonerated. In fact, at times what the person did is outright heresy or treason.

7:12And there's no justification, but when the context is given, the sin goes, as I said, from 100 down to 80 or 70 or 50. Just goes down. It's not that it goes away. And the classic example that all of you should be aware of is the incident of how to Ibn Abi Baltar. This is a, this is a, a important incident in the serum that demonstrates even the most obvious mistake or heresy or evil should not be judged at face value until Tebeyun is done. And what happened here? So in the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet, Allah, Wa R.A.D. was said, had told the sahabah to obviously keep it a surprise. Da, this is the conquest of Makkah. Nobody should tell. In fact, he even, you know, informed the sahabah at the very end, just to make sure. And one of the companions, how did Ibn Abi Baltar, as soon as he found out that the processum is going to surprise the attack and the conquest of Makkah's taking place, what does he do? He writes a letter.

8:13He hires a lady and he tells the lady to hide the message inside the braids of her hairs. Don't even carry it in your pocket, your purse. Put it inside the braids of your hairs so that even if somebody stops you and frisks you, they won't know. And go too, you know Abu Sufyan and give this message directly to him. Now this is treason. There is just no way you can get out of this. Highest level of treason. He is betraying the amana of the Prophet, Allah, Wa Ali, who was sent him. And there is no way that anybody would have found out unless Allah, as the Wa Jalla, reveal which is exactly what happened. Jibri el came down to the processum and said, there is a lady exiting, how they have a message and stop her from getting to Makkah. There is no other way, there is no way this would have happened unless the intervention, divine intervention. And so the processum sends Ali, O Allah, Wa An. And I believe he sends two of the sahaba and he describes the caravan.

9:14And he says there is going to be a lady dressed like this. She has the letter A letter. The lady did not know what the letter was. She just knew there is a letter. The lady did not know what is inside it. And stop her. And Ali, O Allah, Wa An stopped, frisked her bags, frisked her entire camel. And she said, I have nothing, what do you mean? Because she knew, she's going to be in trouble, right? And Ali, O Allah, Wa An said, the Prophet, as soon told me you have it, he does not lie. Either you hand me the letter or we will frisk your body. And he has the right to do so, it's a matter of war, right? And so she realized she's not going to get out. So she untied her hair and she handed the letter. Then the letter comes and it says, from how to to the people of Makkah. Be careful, the process is going to attack. This is an open shut case of treason. I would have been Khatab said, Ya Rasulullah, I'm going to go and execute him right now. Right now, on execute him. And the process, I said, no, until we call him. No, look, look at this.

10:14Until we call him. Ya ni, this is like, what more do you want? Man is in his handwriting. A Jibri and has come down. I mean, Allah has intervened and a miracle has happened. But still, let's find out. And how Thib is brought, right? And he says, Ya Rasulullah, I have no desire to embrace Qufr after Allah gave me Islam. I'm not a kafir, but. And then he gave an excuse and in summary is basically, I'm making it into a normal English. It's a very eloquent Arabic. He's basically saying, Ya Rasulullah, I'm not a Quraishi. And my wife and children are right now in Makkah. And all the other Quraish they're going to come, nobody's going to harm their family. But me being here and my wife and kids are there, I knew that they were going to kill my family. And I knew Allah would protect you. You're not going to get harmed.

11:14So I desired that with this message, my wife and kids would be safe. Now without a doubt, that was wrong. That is like betrayal. But the betrayal was done for a human emotion that we can sympathize with, correct? There was no payment. There's no, I mean, there's no justification, right? And the process of them was angry at him, but the penalty of execution was lifted. He wasn't executed. For the fact that he's doing it for an emotion that even though he, the emotion got the better of him, but this is not an emotion that is betraying of Allah and his messenger. It's a weakness of humanity that we get, we understand, right? So the point being that at that point in time, still the process of him said, come and let me, let me see what, he helped him. He literally had to go, why would you do this? This is what he asked him. This is what tabayun means, right?

12:16If the Prophet ﷺ is asking somebody that is guilty of clear, cut betrayal, why would you do this? Then how about your friend, your relative, your cousin, your spouse? Sazr does something that you don't like and you interpret it in the worst matter immediately. That's not good adab. That's not Islam. If you get angry, calm down and then say, why would you do that? What is the reason? And I assure you, nine times out of ten. No, 99 times out of 100. What your friend, your cousin, your spouse says, it might not exonerate 100%. There's still be maybe some guilt, but you will at least calm down. The best thing scenario, they'll say, you know what, you're absolutely right. That was a really stupid thing. I'm so sorry. When they say they're sorry, you understand, okay. And you come out the victor, you come out the winner,

13:17you're the better person here. And the other person learns it, listen, don't do that again, right? Or better even than that, you misunderstood. It was a complete out of context thing, like in the case of the woman, that what she's saying is right, but when you put it in the context, it's actually not wrong what the man was doing, right? So when you have tabayun, either the whole issue goes away, or clarification that mitigates, and sometimes there is no, there is no exoneration and the person stands guilty as charged, but you've done your due diligence, right? And I assure you, I assure you 99 times out of 100. Tabayun makes the situation better, even if it doesn't cause it to go away, right? It makes the situation better, it makes the friendship stronger, it makes the relationship more powerful, this is an Islamic etiquette. Now we're talking about sectarianism. This is especially pertinent for sectarianism. How so? Because when you're talking about other groups, just like the lady that was angry with her husband,

14:18she takes two or three things that are factually correct, but then the entire picture isn't in context. Guys, this is a class where I trust you all. I'm going to be a little bit, you know, blunt here, because I trust you all in this regard. Look at how the far right describes our religion, and especially our prophets in the law, what do you say? Much of what they say is technically half correct, but the image that they make in totality is an image none of us recognize us. Oh, Islam is about, there is a concept of jihad. Okay, yeah, there is. Okay. Oh, women have to cover yet, they do have to cover. And they keep on drawing, or, you know, the processum, they'll say he engaged in wars for much of his life, which is technically, unlike Jesus, which is technically true. And he had multiple wives, which is technically true. And so they'll say things that are factually correct, but the sum total of what they derive is absolutely different from the reality as it stands.

15:24If you see this from the far right, don't you understand? It can happen on our lives at a closer level, right? If you understand this happening about our religion, oh, there's a verse in the Quran that says this, and it might actually quote the Quran out of context, out of siyak, out of tafsiir, but they'll quote an actual verse. You understand it is possible then to even take the holiest of holy books and the best of all lives and distort them when you have half truths. You don't think the same can happen with your spouse, your friend, your relative, your classmates, your school, you don't think the same can happen. If the book of Allah can be misinterpreted with people who have an evil intent, then how about your friends and your relatives and your relationships, right? And how about another sect that already there's so much fuel and fire between the two sects, between Sunni Shia, between Ashadi Salafi, between Sufi, but they're between this and that, right? They're already at odds, never, ever trust.

16:28An enemy to faithfully describe their opponent. It's that simple. It's that simple. Even if they're not lying, they're not telling the whole truth or else they wouldn't be an enemy. So never base information about the other from somebody who is not a part of that other. If you want to go advance again at some level, you have to trust. I'm not talking about high school kids. I'm talking about if you want to do serious research, if you want to engage, you cannot base your understanding of the other on people that are already hating the other. That doesn't make any sense because even if they are accurate, they will pick and choose and create a caricature that the sum total of which is in contrast to the actual reality of that Firqa'an group. And I speak from personal experience.

17:30I have said this multiple times. As you know, I graduated from University of Medina. I studied 10 years there. My speciality was Islamic theology. My PhD, my master's from there and then my PhD is Islamic theology. And of course, Medirah says there's nothing wrong with this as the way they are. Every Medirah says, obviously needs to prove its strand against other strands as the way it goes. And so when I was studying there, we studied all the other groups. In detail. And I read some of their textbooks. So I thought I had knowledge of the other. It's not as if I'm ignorant about the other. But when you interact with the other, you realize that there's more nuance. It's like, what if I gave you Saheb Hadeem and found one hadith nobody has ever heard of? And I said, oh, this is what Sunni's belief. And you've never read that hadith. You've never heard of it. And I draw an interpretation that you've never heard of in a sermon. It's not a part of our Sunni culture. They say, oh, look, in volume 7, page 223,

18:32look at hadith number 6,000 and I quote something there. Out of context, not understanding. And if a non-Sunni were to read it, they're like, that's really bizarre. But they don't understand. That's not the lived reality of Sunnisim. Or they have an inter, or, or, or, you see my point here, right? And it was only when I come and I start interacting with the other. And teasing out from them, do you guys actually say this? Do you actually believe this? What is your reasoning for doing so? When you actually form, not necessarily you change your firka. I mean, I'm still, you know, respecting of the Saheb and respect the books of the Sunni. I haven't converted to another firka, right? But when you study the other, you actually see, okay, where they're coming from. I see it, but I don't agree with it, but I see where you're coming from. That's it. That's all that is required to do. I'm not saying change or affiliation, but I'm saying when you understand why they say what they say, it gives you a level of empathy that benefits civil society.

19:35You're not going to convert to the other strand by and large, but you're going to realize, okay, you know what? Chances are, if I were born in that family, and my entire trajectory of Islam was through that lens, perhaps I might actually be on that strand. That's really where you're going to come to. And when you come to that conclusion, you're like, okay, well, there's no point causing civil war online with another group. There's no point. There's no fight. Then doing this, right? And again, we're going to come to more examples over and over again. And this becomes very sensitive because people are so emotional about certain aspects, right? And it's the reality. But I will, because I want my goal in this class really is to train you to think more critically. My goal is to empower you so that you benefit society. In order to do that, I have to break through the slogans and the plighted to you. So I have to be blunt. So I will give one simple example and then we'll open the floor for some Q&A. And that example, I say simple, it is not simple. It is actually the fundamental crux of the difference between us, Sunnis and the Shia. And we'll discuss this on Friday in a little bit more detail.

20:36And that is respect of the Sahaba. It's so difficult for us Sunnis to understand. Why do these people not respect Abu Bakr Umar, I said the Allah one, how could they not? Because these are the Sahaba. These are and we know their stories and what they've done. And you might hear a Sunni cleric say, they say this about Abu Bakr, they say this about Umar, they say this about I said the Allah one. And of course, maybe, just maybe those snippets might be true. Or you find online clerics that say it and Sunnis are the ones that promote these Shia clerics. Look at what they say, right? By the way, one problem is they'll find the most bizarre clerics and some small mosques in the middle of nowhere and give them the global platform. That's also not correct, but hey, okay, maybe some Shia clerics somewhere says that. Okay. And again, for the record, I even have to make this disclaimer because one of my problems is the snippets take online every single lecture I give. There's like 70 different groups looking at me. And every group is trying to read and it's everyone wants to prove up the deviant,

21:39right? Everyone wants to prove them off the, you know, whatever. So whatever I say always there's some refutation video coming out, you lose track of who's saying what about me. So anyway, I have to make the disclaimer. Of course, I'm Sunni, I respect the Sahaba. I don't agree with Shia theology, but when you understand that the narrative they have of early Islamic history is totally different than your Sunday school narrative. When you understand their version of early Islam is a version you have never heard of. You don't know their version. That's not your version at all. They've been told an alternative history. That history is unknown to you because their books are different than ours. And in that history, Abu Bakr and Umar of the Allah, and the human, IshyAllah the Allah wa-Ana, they disobeyed the Prophet, the son of after his death. Sounds bizarre to us. Sounds bizarre and I don't agree with that. But in their world view, the reason why they're irritated and frustrated and angry at these people

22:45that we respect, believe it or not, it's coming. And I'm not exonerating. I have to make that disclaimer because if this clip is taken once again, I get like 70 videos by the hard Kursunni Clarice against me. But when you understand that in their perspective, Umar of the Allah wa-Ana disobeyed the Prophet's Muslim. I'll give you one example. This is really controversial but this is a fact. This is a fact that in their books, it is mentioned that Umar of the Allah wa-Ana surrounded the house of Fatima, Umar of the Allah wa-Ana and threatened to burn it down. And maybe even physically cause damage to the house and the people inside the house. In their books, now, that narration is found in one or two of our books as well, but we've been deemed it to be fabricated, okay? You have never heard of it. And that's because it's our Sunni- but it is found in one or two of our books. Our early books, we don't believe in it.

23:46They believe in it. Now, if you, your whole life, heard that any human being physically assaulted the house of the daughter of the processam and attempted to burn it down, that's the narrative you have. Your emotions of love to the Fatima, the daughter of the processam, would cause you to be irritated, angry at the one who's trying to harm her. Correct? Correct? So the reason why they hold these views is because their history is different than ours. I'm not exonerating, guys. When the videos come out, they're going to remove my disclaimer and they're going to say, look what Yasuh al-Qaddi is saying. And again, this goes back to Ta'beyun. You can't win with people who want to make a criminal out of you. You can't. I'm not exonerating. I'm saying once you understand that their cause for anger, believe it or not,

24:46is love for the processam and his family. That's why they're angry. Then the issue comes, which books will you believe? That's an academic issue. And that's where we need to dialogue with them. That's a separate issue altogether. Because if anybody believed that a person attempted to physically assault the house of the daughter of the process and them, burn that house down, everybody would be irritated at that. Obviously, me and you, we cannot believe that our motive of help would do such a thing. And I cannot believe this. Well, I can't, honestly, it's just impossible for us to believe this. But that's because we have a version of history that is obviously our version. They have all these different incidents in which accumulative picture is painted of these specific people that is radically different than our own. You see what I'm saying here, right? And because of that cumulative picture, their emotions against them are radically different. Once you understand the context, you don't agree. What did I say? You don't have to exonerate.

25:48You don't have to exonerate. But just like with how to, okay, I see where you're coming from. I don't agree. It's a big mistake. And you really should consider which version of history you follow. But then you get to a bigger and deeper issue, which again, that's why it's an infinite loop, right? Who's the authoritative historian, etc., etc., and you go deeper and deeper. But once you understand that, you can no longer be so simplistic. Oh, all the shia'ah, all the sahaba. It's not that simplistic. Do you understand what I'm saying here, right? It's no exoneration. But this is where sectarianism needs to be tackled with. Understanding the context. Even if you don't agree, we obviously don't agree, right? It's impossible that somebody like Umar Milchattar or the Allah want to spend 20 plus years of his life doing what he did. That a few months after the death of a process, he's going to want to burn down Ali and father. It's just impossible for us, but that's our version. And in their version, it's a very radically, pretty good. So here's my, you know, Khodasa or the summary is very simple. And that is learn the art of tabayun.

26:52It will help you be a wiser person. It will help you be a true researcher. It will help you be a leader in whatever field you go into. Whether you're a manager, whether anything, it will help you in your relationships with family and friends. It'll help you be a better person at every level. And for our series of classes, when we're doing sectarianism, it will actually help you understand why other people have different views than you. Go to the source, find out, broaden your horizons, and you will then understand. Never, ever take something to second face value and never take information from a critic from an enemy that doesn't work that way. Right? Always go to the source and always make tabayun. So with that in Sh. Allah, we'll let us now open up the floor for all of your difficult questions. Bismillah. Okay. Anonymous asker. Why have scholars throughout history considered musical instruments as halal? Haram, you mean?

27:52That was a mistake clearly. It's supposed to be Haram. Most scholars have considered musical instruments to be Haram. Why have they done those? It's based on a Hadith and Sahih Buhari that they interpret to me in Haram. I have mentioned the musical issue multiple times. One day, I plan to give a longer lecture about it. The reason I don't want to give a longer lecture now is that, frankly, people are already emotionally invested. And it's sad for me, but I'd wonder into these controversies. People cannot have a reasonable discussion over issues that they've already decided. And they want to categorize who and judge you instantaneously, based upon a 10-second clip, okay? Go look at any scholar that says, oh, music might be permissible, some conditions. Go look at the comments and go look at the refutation videos. And vice versa. My own position is more nuanced. And I don't believe that we can say music is Haram, but I also don't believe that we should say music is Haram.

28:55It doesn't work that way. And there's no question that the music industry as it stands today is an industry of filth. How can you have any two opinions about this, right? The music industry as it stands today, the types of vulgarities and the promiscuities and the Fahisha that is prevalent in the videos. This is clearly not something that will be allowed, but that is not the same as every type of melody. That is not the same as every type of melody. So there should be nuance in this regard. And also, some tension has always existed in our Islamic culture. Listen to this carefully, guys. Between the piotistic scholars and between the normative culture. And I don't mind that tension because the piotistic scholars should want to drag you more closer to a higher level.

29:57And society as a default is never going to get there. Let there be some healthy tension. Let there be, right? There has always been a culture of Islamic music, even if the scholars didn't like it. Do you understand the dichotomy here, right? In the time of the Umayyids, in the time of the Abbas, in the time of the Ottoman, in the time of every civilization. And you had Muslim musicians. And you had books written on, you know, other types of instruments to play. In fact, some of the scholars are famous like Farabi, actually, Rodebokindi, Rodebokon Music. Hindi has musical notes. And we want to know the philosopher, right? So you had that trend throughout all of Islam, all of Islam. And you also have the piotistic scholars, whom we love, whom we respect, and who are attempting to preserve the prophetic ideal. And they're frowning at the very least on this whole institution, right? So you've had society do this, while scholars don't want them to do it.

30:59And that tension has continued to perpetuate our times. I don't see a problem in this, because we want our scholars to keep on, you know, there should be that elderly grandfather figure that stares at us and why are you doing this is good. We want that. Keep some checks and balances. And the fact of them, either, is this industry, overall, is an industry that is not conducive to our spirituality. And music is associated with the finer passions of the soul. And those passions, if left unchecked, will inevitably lead to Haram. If left unchecked, those passions will lead to Haram, throughout all cultures, throughout all civilizations, some aspects of music have been always associated with sensuality, with illicit intercourse, with Khmer Sharab. This is universal and pre-Islamic poetry,

32:01in Islamic poetry, by Islamic, I mean, Muslim civilization, right? Because again, people have this pite, you don't think there were people that drank alcohol, you know, throughout all of Islamic history as well. What did the poets do? They wrote about alcohol. What did the poets do? They wrote about, you know, flirtations and Haram relationships, right? Many of the poets and many of them, didn't. That's why Allah says in the Quran. Many of the poets are followed by wandering lost people, except for a few Allah says, this is in the Quran. What shura'aura wa yatebura wa ilgawun. Most of the poets, they have no purpose in life. They're just wandering aimlessly and misguiding others. This is in the Quran. Then Allah says, but there's a category, Illa alladina amelu wa aminus adi'ati wa l-thakarul-laha qathiyah. There's a category of poets. This is a poetry, not music. There's a category of poets. If they are pious and they're constantly doing vikr, they might actually benefit people. This is in the Quran. This is poetry. I would argue music has a bigger potential to misguide than poetry.

33:06But I would also argue that some types, if done properly, are not going to misguide. And those conditions are found in many of the books. And this is what I personally also subscribe to. I don't say categorically that music is halal. I don't believe music is halal uncategorically. And I also don't say music is halal. Uncategorically. Rather, it is more nuanced. And again, for the record, I do believe that there's a healthy reason why the paetistic scholars were not happy with this industry. And you want them to be earning on the side of caution that is normative as well. But in the end of the day, this area is a gray area. Whoever avoids it is better. Whoever falls into it should definitely avoid the clear-cut haram, such as the fahisha that is found in it. And even if a person is guilty of this,

34:09more than just the normative, what I would call the cleaner or the more. Even if they are, listening to these types of instruments and what not, no scholar has ever said that it is a major sin. Allah's punishment, Allah's jahnnam, is not going to come for this. Again, we believe in a merciful God. Jahnnam is not written for this type of stuff. Jahnnam is for people who steal orphans property. Jahnnam is for people who are murdering. Jahnnam is for people who are, that's what jahnnam is for. So these types of things, one of our problems is the preachers, they lump everything together. And I've said this multiple times. Let's be more nuanced here. Even if somebody were to say the normative, Sunni position is that musical instruments that are wind and that are string based are haram. That is normative, Sunni Islam. That is factually correct. That's what they believe. I'm not saying I believe that. So they believe. Even in normative Sunni, that would be considered

35:13a what is called a minor sin. And a minor sin is forgiven by doing will do. A minor sin is forgiven by Turaqa. A minor is sin is forgiven by Dikr. Normative Sunni Islam has never said that playing a guitar is going to throw you into jahnnam. But unfortunately preachers come along, what you call them and what is it? The alt bro, what you call them? The preachers online, those types of people. The dauer bro types. The dauer bro has always existed. There's nothing. You call them a new phenomenon. They've always existed throughout all of Islamic history. These are the ones that want to sensationalize. An academic intellectual dilemma has always existed. And you've always had the dauer bro types. Nothing new. You've always had it. Because that type of mentality, it ingratiates you amongst a group of zealots. You become super famous, super fast. And your followers are super fanatical.

36:14All over this is this. There's nothing. When you study history, you automatically, it's like these patterns repeat. History is cyclical. It's nothing new. Nothing new. So you have that mentality where something like this, when you start making it a very big deal, you do form a group of people that love to hear it. And again, I'm being, this is going to get me to a lot of trouble, mail up protect me. As usual, always this happens, man. What happens is that when you can't solve the bigger problems, you make the smaller problems bigger than they need to be. This is human nature, right? It's human nature. When you cannot solve the major problems of the world, Palestine is happening. You're full of anger. You're full of rage. You're full of genuine hurt and pain. Then someone comes along and it's listening to music. And that anger and rage that is genuine is then taken out on this bichata miskin guy or girl, whatever, doing something that is a truly trivial.

37:15You understand what I'm saying here, right? That mentality of dogmatism, of uber fun. I talked about this multiple times, even in this lecture, we had a whole lecture about the appeal of fanaticism. Do you remember that? If you have a donor member, go listen to it here in our series on lighthouse. We had an entire lecture on the appeal of fanaticism, right? Fanaticism is psychologically appealing because it gives you the illusion of empowerment. I'm doing something. If Palestine is burning, I am bashing those sisters that have one hair showing because there's nothing else they can do, right? So that becomes the big end all and be all. And anybody who dares trivialize that, like your YQ guy. This is a slippery sellout because they need to take that anger on something, right? So understand it's been there done that. In the time of the process, and as the Khadijites, the same mentality is in the far right bro brothers, whatever you call it, that was what you call it. The same mentality is there, right? And by those notches amongst brothers,

38:16a lot of the sisters have their issues as well, where they might take something relatively trivial and make a big deal out of it if a brother does it or read into it much more than it needs to. It's a two way street here and you need to understand. That's why empathy and tabayun is so important, okay? Hope that answers that question. Yalla Bismillah. Okay, question here. What would you love Muslims to doing in their workplace in universities and governments and politics and business, both locally within our communities and globally across the world? Very big question. What would I love to see? I would love to see visible Muslims proud of their identity and contributing at every level according to their talents. It's as simple as that. What are you good at? What are you passionate at? What is your niche that you can really contribute? Go and master that niche. Be in the top 10%, 5%, 1% of your field and be proud to be Muslim. That's it. That is all that is needed.

39:16Well, light that is all that is needed. And be attached to some scholarship, some Sheikh, I mean, have some of this shit. But like I've said, and again, this got me into a lot of trouble as well. Scholarship is not the only way to contribute to the Ummah. Be attached to scholarship, but you don't have to give up everything and become a scholar. No, one of you out of 5, 10,000 yes, become a scholar. But the rest, you need to contribute in your fields. You need to be whatever you're good at, whether it is in your corporations, whether it is in your businesses, whether it is in law, whether it is in politics, and then Bismillah, go and do. And as troubles come, go and get fatwas, go and get people who understand. As issues arise, get the Islamic opinion about them. But do not stop yourself from contributing just because you don't have the requisite background and knowledge right now. That's gonna come with you bit by bit. And by the way, a lot of these issues, especially in politics,

40:16we can only solve them when they happen. As we see right now, let me look at what's happening with the mayor's, and not the mayor's, the mayor of New York, other people, these are very, very difficult questions. And people are running for Congress. You know, we have a person running for Senate right now. You know, in Minnesota, sorry, Michigan, Michigan. Muslim running for Senate. I mean, it's a very new territory. What exactly do you expect him to say and do these are difficult questions? I don't have answers, but this may not come together. So what do I wanna see? I wanna see you passionate about the umma and channel your energy where it's correct. Not with the d'Awa bros, not with bashing other Muslims, not with sectarianism, not with taking petty things and exaggerating them. No, take your anger at razza. Take your frustration at the failure of so many other and then channel it so that you be successful in your field. Have drive to accomplish something. Wanna do something. And in order to do that, you need skill, talent, passion,

41:19echloss, energy, all of this. So this is what I wanna see. And there's no one answer to this. Can you explain the rejection of women's testimony in matters of Klyassin, Kisasaan Houdud? It seems that the evidence is don't explicitly reject their testimony, but it was inferred. How can a woman's testimony be taken in the words of the process of Salat-A-Salam, but not in murder or Zina? So again, this is one of those areas where society and culture has played a massive role. And there's a good article by Professor Muhammad Faudel from the University of Toronto. I encourage you to read this article. Can you quickly look up the name of the article? One man, two women or something. So he has a very good article where he has his interpretation where again, what he's arguing in that article, I don't wanna misquote him, but he's basically, what is it called? Two women, one man, knowledge power and gender in, medieval.

42:22And medieval Sunni legal thoughts. You can download it from online. Okay, Muhammad Faudel in the University of Toronto, he has a very good article in which he summarized that in some circumstances, women's testimony was allowed in the past. And then he's arguing in the past, business transactions were not something that women were privy to. And so Shadya has come down with this regard. And in our times, we may be able to take into account different circumstances. So you can read that article and see it. I don't personally disagree much with what he is saying, go read his article, but at the same time, one needs to also look into account other issues, such as for example, Ibn al-Qayyam saying that the Shadya allows evidence-based claims that are non-testimonial. So for example, for example, can you take testimony from fingerprinting or from DNA? Okay, is DNA something that we can take in Shadya or not? Many, many traditionally trans scholars will say,

43:23no, no, we cannot take tradition, we cannot take DNA. But actually DNA in many cases is more affirmative than two eyewitnesses, because eyewitnesses can make mistakes. There are so many cases in this country where a person, even they don't even, they're not lying. They think that is that person, and you know this is especially racial issue, right? Well, a lot of times, race-based, you just think it's that person, and the eyewitness, you know, says it. So the Shadya has two witnesses. Can you take other evidences besides two witnesses? And many traditional scholars are no, no, because the Shadya says two witnesses and the responses, Ibn al-Qayyam says, Ibn Taymiyat says, no, but that was the norm for that time in place. But there are other evidences that can be taken into account. And if they're just as definitive as that, we should be able to take them. So this is one of those, again, topics that is ultra-sensitive because the perception comes from many of our traditionally trained scholars that any type of alteration is a rejection of the Shadya.

44:24And again, this tension, you see this all the time. You know, we've already come across this so many times in the examples I've spoken about. This is another example. This is another example where there's this knee jerk reaction that if this is what our classical scholar said, pause here at the Quran and Sunnah, never explicitly rejects the testimony of a woman. It's not something that a listener don't listen to a woman. But our scholars have derived law based upon the culture and time of their place. And by and large, testimonies of women were not a part of that repertoire, that genre that they extrapolated. Because again, it's a radically different world. I know it's bizarre for us to think about, but really women didn't have public appearances. They didn't participate in public that much. They were living in their own worlds, if you like. So the notion of having a woman be a part of a court ceremony, a woman, it wasn't something that was normative.

45:26Now the world has changed. And if five, 10, 15 women come and say, hey, this guy did this, can we cumulatively take their testimony? And make some type of case against this person. Again, these are very sensitive questions. And I'm not the one person that can change Sunni law in this regard. But I am open to the idea of Fich Kouns, those of Fukhaha, allowing for whatever the shadi Amait allow in this regard. And that's an article that you can read in this to get an idea here. Question here. You have said that no scholar has universally agreed upon the definition of what makes a sect a sect. So how do we know where the line is between acceptable, echtilaf, and actual heresy? Very good question. And the response is that actually there is no definitive answer to this. And that is why you find so many people arguing over

46:29an idea, a concept. Is it acceptable or is it heretical? I give you a classic example. Ibn Taymiyah's view on heaven, sorry, on hell being, being what, guys, do you remember? Not permanent. You guys remember that? Back in the day we did this class, right? I mentioned Ibn Taymiyah has a view that hell is eventually going to cease to exist. And he was sympathetic to that view. And Ibn Al-Khayyim was sympathetic to that view. Many of Ibn Taymiyah's opponents said, this is heresy. This is Zendaka. This is blasphemy to claim. And many of his admirers say, well, even if I don't agree with it, it is an acceptable echtilaf. So actually, actually, this question hits another sensitive issue, which is who's going to judge the judges? Who's going to really define? So Sunni-e-Ashiyah. Again, I want to be realistic.

47:30You will find Sunni's who say to curse the Sahaba expels you from Islam. And they have scholarship that says this. And you will find others who say, and I'm one of them, cursing the Sahaba is definitely bad. But it doesn't make you a prophet. That's my opinion. But then who's going to decide? And I'll quote you, my scholars. And I'll quote you a whole bunch of people. And I'll quote you, the evidences. But you go to the other side, and they have their evidences as well. So when you see this whole area of ambiguity, this should, again, ask us to empathize. Don't be so swift in judgment. And to respond to your question, really, it goes back to your own authority. Who do you trust in this regard? And what is an acceptable echtilaf? So again, we can go on and on. One of the positions you're going to hear is the only acceptable difference is between the four schools of Islamic law. This is a fairly mainstream view.

48:32Many clerics around the world will tell you, we must only accept four schools of Sunni law, right? Otherwise, we cannot accept anything more than that. And I respectfully disagree. And not just me. I said, that is the, what I call the waslati paradigm. That is even Taimiya's view. That is the shea-dvida view. That's called always view. Where did this divine four number come from? Who said, where are we saying only four? Why can't we take a fatouette outside of these four schools? So we're pushing back at that. So you're going to have to decide who you trust. And a lot of it will go back to who do you view as as the person whom you trust in this regard. Question here, 50 question, is brain death equal to real death in your view? The Filq al-Sahar of the Americas, fatouette one, organ translation, demand vital organs like a heart cannot be taken from a brain dead donor because they want it to be saved, given the debate on the other brain death equates to death. However, most heart transplants in the USA are from brain death patients. So wouldn't this mean Muslim heart patients

49:33would more likely die on the transplant waiting list if they were to refuse donors who had undergone brain death? Okay, we are not required to refuse other donors. The fatouette we gave is about your own relative, or even you may Allah protect us all at the time of that stage. When the heart is pumping, when there's some signs of life, can you ignore those signs, cut open the body and take the heart? So the fatouette is on the Muslim line on the death bed. If somebody else does something, it's not your responsibility what they did. So our fatouette was for Muslims in this regard. Also, we did update this fatouette. So look at the update. We have Dr. Asim Padela with us. He's one of the most well-known recognized Islamic ethicists and he did add some conditions where not how do you define brain death is the question. So at times, I don't remember the medical stuff you can read of the fatouette,

50:34but he actually made some exceptions in this that where there are specific signs, then even if there's a slight pulse or whatever, but it is assumed now that this is now halas, there's gonna be gone, there is no life palpable life. He actually had some exceptions to this, Allahu'alaikum. Question here, brother is asking that can you go to the mixed gym, seeing women working out in the same room in appropriate clothing. So two way street, women and men, Allah says, fatouette Allah, I'm still thought, I'm fear Allah as much as you can. If you find that going to the gym is something that affects the purity of your heart, then either do something at your house with your whatever gym equipment you can do, or go at times when there's not gonna be the problem. Go at times where you will be able to go and there was not going to be the issues over there. I don't wanna give this harsh fatouette that it is how-on, because I understand that it is something

51:36that is important for many people to go and it's physically good to get your body strong. At the same time, be reasonable in what you are exposing yourself to. You know your limits, you know your own issues, so don't go at peak times. Go at times where it's gonna be better. Put on something that is gonna give you spiritual sanity, lower your gaze, and fear Allah as much as you can. We live in a society where you cannot protect your gaze 100%. That's just a fact. But why should you foolishly expose yourself to more than what is something that will cause your spiritual harm? So it's an effort back and forth. Another thing you can do is have a group of brothers that you go together with, and so they'll just help one another out. You go to the same area of the gym and you just do your routines together. It does help in this regard. So be reasonable. Don't make Islam impossible to practice. At the same time, don't just acquiesce to society as exists, right?

52:37It's healthy to have some tension that's good actually. You should feel this tension, that's good. I'm not just telling you ignore it, it's good. But have a middle ground in this regard. Question here, how to patch up with relatives who are astray. I don't even know if they're Muslim or not. Well, if they're not Muslim or not, that's something you need to find out. This is not a question that a faqih or a scholar of Islam can answer. I've said this multiple times. Listen to me carefully. Questions such as, how should I approach so and so? How should I deal with a brother who does this and this? How should I talk to my cousin? How should I, all such questions, you really should not be asking me or any scholar because they deal with psychology and not with law. And psychology varies from person to person and relationship to relationship. So you have to deal with people in a way

53:38that will be the most important and empathetic and guiding them. That's the goal. If you cannot guide them and they're misguiding you, you have the right to break away. Otherwise, your goal is to impact them positively. How you should do that, I can't answer. Nobody can answer. So I want you to learn to stop asking this question of anybody. You may ask Fikh questions, may I keep ties with somebody who's doing this and that? That's a different issue. But how to approach, no scholar can ever answer you. You have a cousin that's drinking publicly. His whole life, his whole room is full of humbler. Can you visit? Well, I mean, if you're visiting just to socialize with him and there's no shame coming from you or him, that is a problem, it is a problem. There should be a sense, but if you visit once every year or two to maintain the ties and you show your awkwardness and you give the message, now we flip the whole script.

54:39We flip the whole script here, right? You're, and this is, sorry to be blunt, but again, you have a person that's living with a girlfriend boyfriend or you have same sex couple living together. I've had cases where people have come to me. They're cousin, they're in one case, they're child or whether it's son or whatever, was living with a partner, same sex partner. And the mother and father in my office, what do we do? That's a fifth question, not how, what? That's a fifth question. And I responded to what I'm saying here. The person already done the civil ceremony with the same sex partner, right? And now they're living together. Now their parents are coming and saying, what do we do? And the response was very clear. You cannot ignore that this is just not acceptable, but does this mean you cut off totally? You have to have this awkward, good, bad, awkward routine where your visits should visibly,

55:42there should be a sense of awkwardness. If you, if one of them visits, because again, now it just gets more and more complicated. There are children involved. If you get the, why don't we get too explicit? You get the point here. And I was like, he gets even crazier, okay? Now there's a biological child related to one of these elders that's coming to our mosque, let's say, right? What are you gonna do? Shouldn't some Muslim be in the life of this child? As this child grows up, shouldn't the child know that my grandfather's Muslim? Right? It's sometimes some scholars give unrealistic fatawa, disconnected from reality. And then there's a human element. The mother's crying, it's her son. There's a human element. She cannot see her son. You cannot just give these type of cold fatwa that are unrealistic. So these types of things are fake. Otherwise, how to deal with it? And I said to them what I'm gonna say to you, the goal is that you're trying your best in whatever way works to remind them

56:42and bring them back to Allah. How you do it, I don't know. That's just like college between you and your son. How is not my question I cannot, but that is the goal here and the same goes over here. Ya Allah, let's do the final question in shā'a Llāh. So question here, let me see what is left here. So okay, I've done this before as well. The issue of hijab being compulsory. And do we say, what do we say if somebody says it's not compulsory? So as I have explained multiple times, and again the question is here, sister, so again, I'm answering it. I do believe that modesty is wajib and the shā'a Llāh has come with a definition of modesty. It's not just left to culture because if it were left to culture, then every few decades the norm would continue to go down as is the reality of Western culture. Go look at what is happening in the media. Go look at what was considered to be pornographic in the 70s

57:44is now mainstream entertainment that kids watch in our generation. How did that happen? If you say that decency is relative, that's inevitably going to happen. Okay, there's no way out. So the shā'a Llāh has defined decency and that definition is very clear and that is the entirety of a woman should be covered. That having been said, I have also said, that all too often, especially many of our brothers, they exaggerate the status of the headscarf more than what the shā'a Llāh says. It is obligatory, nobody misquote me, but it is not the defining characteristic of Islam. And if a sister is struggling in this community, in America, in the Western world, if a sister is not able to do that, there is no way that she should be made to feel she's bankrupt. There's no way she can benefit. Oudu billāh, brothers, many of the sins you do are worse

58:46than a sister struggling with the headscarf. You understand that? Many of the normal routines that you guys do is worse. Being addicted to corn is worse than I'm just being want here. Is worse than a woman not wearing a headscarf. So before you judge, understand, it's a difficult world. It's not easy. So have some compassion and their affairs with Allah Subḥānau wa Ta'ala, but we want to encourage sisters who are not able to live up to that, to realize they can contribute in many other ways. They can be good and pious in other ways. And they can pray and be contributing to the messiah than the communities. Her whole definition is not over the scarf. Now, the question was that, what do we say to those who say it's not wajib? I would say the Qur'an is quite explicit in this regard, and the hadith is explicit. And to the best of my knowledge, there is no controversy at all. There is something that I would say is ijmā'u, which is very rare to say. There's no ijmā'u, or music.

59:47There's no ijmā'u, many things. But when it comes to a woman covering her hair, there is ijmā'u. Now then the critics come and say, oh, but, you know, milk yamīn don't have to cover their hair. I'm talking about free women. I'm talking about us here, our society. And don't bring an exceptional issue. Milk yamīn, okay, they don't have to cover their. But women that are not milk yamīn, by ijmā'u, they must cover their hair. So I don't have any difference. The Qur'an is quite clear, because Allah, as always, He literally says, let them take their Khumār and put it over their, you know, their jayūb. And so for me, it is clear, so I don't agree with this opinion. But in the end of the day, I also don't fetishize it to that. And I say, if you can wear it al-ḥamdu liLlāh, if you cannot, do not give up on other good deeds and work your way to do other piety.