Coca-Cola Muslim Generation Q&A

Coca-Cola Muslim Generation - Questions and Answers

By Abdur Raheem Green

Opening

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon his family and his companions and grant them peace. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

Question 1: About the Coca-Cola Drink

First question: I am a brother in the audience and I have been sitting here for one and a half hours, are you going to drink that coke or not? Because I'm thirsty.

I am not going to drink it, so the brother can come and get it. Bro, you're not allowed this stuff, you know that man, it's too much sugar man.

Question 2: Is Coca-Cola a Jewish Company?

So, there's a question here about the Coca-Cola company. Can I talk about who owns it and whether we should buy their products or not? And they say, since if it is a Jewish company, then we will be contributing to the killing of our brothers and sisters in Palestine and elsewhere.

The Reality About Coca-Cola Ownership

Okay, this is actually a few different subjects here. First of all, about the Coca-Cola company. As far as I know, it's a myth that the Coca-Cola company is owned by Jews, that's the first thing.

Actually, it was a story spread by Pepsi-Cola in order to get Coca-Cola banned in the Arab countries. And as the well-known wars between the Pepsi and the Coca-Cola wars that took place in the 70s and 80s. It was a part of their propaganda to actually get Coca-Cola banned.

So, it's not a Jewish company. And even if it was a Jewish company, then you'd have to establish that they are actually sending money in order to contribute to the killing of brothers and sisters in Palestine. And even if you could prove that, it does not necessarily mean that it is haram to buy Coca-Cola.

The Prophetic Example of Trade

We know the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to trade with the Jews and with the pagan idol worshippers. Even though at various stages, he was at war with them and that did not stop the Prophet (peace

and blessings be upon him) trading with them and buying their goods and so on and so forth. However, if you want to abstain from buying it out of wara or scrupulousness that you do not love as a Muslim, to put your hand to something that is, how can I say, lessening the strength of Islam, then Alhamdulillah, that's good.

If you want to do that, Inshallah, we would say that would be an act that is mustahab. Inshallah, you get rewarded for it.

The Need for Consistency

And there's something else actually that I didn't mention in my talk. And this sort of reminds me is that I think the Muslims do need to be a little bit consistent in their behavior. You see, one of the things that always amazes me is that you see people with banners, Death to America, Death to America, Death to America. I've got a Nike cap, Nike shoes, Levi jeans. Death to America. You know what I mean? I mean, come on, please. It's the stuff. I don't understand that. I just don't understand it.

Question 3: Is All Insurance Haram?

Okay. Is all insurance haram? Okay. Yes, insurance is haram. Insurance is haram. In general, it is not allowed.

Two Reasons Why Insurance is Haram

It's haram from two angles. Number one, it means that in some ways you're actually not trusting in Allah. And it is a great, in fact, it could be to the extent of a deficiency in your faith in Allah. If you think that I need insurance to protect me from this and to protect me from that. And in case this happens and in case that happens, this is a deficiency in your faith.

Rather, your trust should be in Allah. And that you should confine yourself to obeying Him and following His commandments.

As for putting money in a company that will give you a fixed rate of interest or even if it's not fixed. They give you a return on your money and that is increased. Therefore, it is riba and riba is forbidden in Islam. It is one of the most severely forbidden things in Islam. It is one of the greatest sins.

The Severity of Riba

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that the lowest dealing in riba, the lowest level. There are 72 levels and the lowest level is like fornicating 36 times. That's the lowest level. In fact, in another narration it mentions that it is like fornicating with your mother. The lowest level of riba. This is the lowest level.

Subhanallah.

Insurance as Riba and Gambling

So, insurance in fact is a type of riba. Why? Because you give money and you pay money and then if you have an accident or you have some claim, you will take more money back than you gave. This is riba. This is pure

riba.

It is also a type of gambling. It's a type of gambling also because that's what you're doing. Because in the contract there is if. If this happens or if that happens, so it's a type of gambling. It's like you're putting your money. I put my money down. I put my money down. If it happens, I get my money back. If it doesn't happen, I lose my money. It's gambling. Unless of course you're gonna cheat and lie and make false claims. And that is lying and deception which is not allowed in Islam.

When Insurance May Be Permissible

So, insurance in general is something that is absolutely haram. And the only way that it may be permissible to take insurance is from a case of absolute necessity where you don't have any choice. For example, in England, car insurance. You have to have car insurance or you can't drive a car. So, this is something that is something that is a type of great necessity. And if the only way in order to fulfill that necessity is by doing it, then you do it as little as possible. You take the absolute minimum amount.

Insurance in Australia

Now, I talked to some brothers in Australia. They said that when you buy your road tax or your registration, insurance is included on that registration. You already have insurance on that registration that protects against injury to another person. So, there is no need for any Muslim to have insurance in this country other than that. And every other type of level of insurance will be haram. It's haram.

Question 4: Is Hijrah from Western Countries Fard?

Okay. Is hijrah from the western countries fard? Okay. And there's a question about Muslim women working in hijab in western countries in mixed male-female environment.

Two Scholarly Opinions on Hijrah

Okay. The first question about hijrah. The scholars have two opinions about hijrah. Some say that as long as you can practice your religion, meaning the essential pillars of your religion, meaning you can pray and you can fast and you can give the zakah and you're free to perform the hajj. And they added another condition. You are free to criticize and speak out against the religion or the ideology of that nation in which you live. So, as long as you can fulfill those conditions, they say it is not haram to live in those lands.

The other opinion is that it is an obligation upon the Muslim to leave the lands of the non-Muslims and to live in the lands of the Muslims.

The Stronger Opinion

If you look at the various evidences, which we're not going to go into them all tonight. But if you look at the various evidences that the scholars bring forth, it would seem that the strongest evidence is that it is not

permitted for the Muslim to stay and remain and to live permanently in the land of the non-Muslims. Meaning hijrah is an obligation.

Exceptions to the Obligation

And the only exception that the scholars made for this is those people who stay. Not the only exception actually, that's not correct. There are a few exceptions they made.

One exception is that a person who is a refugee. The other exception is a person who comes temporarily for medical treatment or for business. Or they come temporarily, meaning they come for a short amount of time in order to acquire some knowledge that cannot be acquired in the Muslim lands.

So those four categories they said, it's permissible for them to come for those periods of time in order to acquire those things. And the fifth category, which is the only category which allows some permanent type of stay, is that the person who has come to the land of the non-Muslims to give da'wah. That means to inform the people of the message of Islam.

Connecting Hijrah to Ibadah

So this is a very strong opinion. If you look at the evidences, mashallah the evidences are very strong. So brothers and sisters, we have to think about that. Because remember we said what is ibadah? Ibadah is everything which Allah loves and is pleased with from the actions of the heart and the actions of the limbs. So one of the actions of the limbs is where you live. The land where you live is one of the actions of the limbs. It's an action. So for your action of living in the land of the non-Muslims to be an action that Allah loves and is pleased with, you should be fulfilling one of those conditions. The major one of which is to be a da'wah or someone who is inviting people to Islam.

Question 5: Can Muslim Women Work in Mixed Environments?

Can Muslim women work in hijab in western countries in a mixed environment? Then in general of course it is not something that is from the behavior of the Muslim and it is not something that is the behavior for the Muslim woman to be in a mixed environment. In fact not for the Muslim woman, for any Muslim. Muslim man or Muslim woman is not allowed to be in a mixed environment.

Mixing is Haram for Both Men and Women

So it's not just haram for the women, it's haram for the men as well. So some brothers may write, oh the women shouldn't be going to mixed environment. In fact no one should be going to a mixed work environment. It has many, many, many evil consequences and many bad things happen in such mixed environments as I'm sure you're all quite aware of that.

The Islamic Division of Responsibilities

However in general in Islam Allah has made men to be the maintainers and protectors of women. It is the man's duty and responsibility to look after the women, to maintain them, to protect them, to provide for them. That is the man's responsibility.

In Islam alhamdulillah in this beautiful religion Allah has divided the tasks of the men and the women according to their nature and according to their capabilities. We do not have a religion that expects men to be like women and women to be like men. Islam recognizes that men and women are different. That Allah has created the man with special capabilities and Allah has created the woman with special capabilities. Therefore the Muslim and the Islamic system is encouraging the woman and the man to live their life according to the capabilities that God has given them.

So what is upon the man is to maintain and protect the woman. Upon the woman is to be and to fulfill the noble and the important and the lofty task of educating and teaching the children the morals, the manners, the religion and generally in general maintaining the affairs of the home. This is generally the case.

Women Working: The Conditions

There is of course women are not forbidden from working. But again the issue is it should not be in an inappropriate mixed environment. Because Allah has made men the maintainers and protectors of women, therefore it is more, how can you say, although it is not allowed and in fact mixing is not something allowed, but because the man has to maintain and protect the woman, therefore it is less of something that is bad for him in the sense that it is more of an obligation upon him to go out and work.

Therefore by necessity of what Allah has ordered him with, he may have to go into that type of environment in order to provide for his family. So because of his responsibility that Allah has given him, although both men and women should avoid mixing, it is not quite so bad for the man as it is for the woman because of the duty that Allah placed upon him.

That is presuming of course that the sister, if she does not have a husband or a man to look after her, then of course it is permissible for her to work in whatever environment. But she should try and make it one that is as free as possible from free mixing.

Question 6: Does Coca-Cola Mean "No Mecca, No Muhammad"?

Does Coca-Cola really stand for No Mecca, No Muhammad in Arabic? No Mecca, No Muhammad. They say that if you look at this sign backwards through the light, it says No Mecca, No Muhammad. I mean I tried really to find it, but some people see what they want to see.

Question 7: Buying a House Through Islamic Finance

You put as one of the signs of being a member of the Coca-Cola Muslim Club is to buy a house or a car by mortgage. What if you buy through a Muslim company not dealing with interest?

Be Careful of "Halal" Mortgages

Alhamdulillah. If such a company really does exist, and it is not just a mortgage with Halal in front of it, like Halal pig, Bismillah. I mean as you know it does not matter, you could say Bismillah and recite the Quran, but the pig does not become Halal. So you can give mortgage lots of Islamic sounding names, but if it is a mortgage, it is still a mortgage.

The Permissible Method of Home Purchase

So what you have to look at brothers and sisters is this really a form of permissible lending in Islam. There is only one permissible form of lending system that I know about in Islam, that I know about. There may be others, but it is not my area of expertise, I have to admit. Economics is not my area of expertise.

And that is the system where, I do not know the technical name they call it, but where you buy shares in the house. Yourself and the lender, you buy shares in the house. So for example you put up 40% of the capital, and they put up 60%, so you own 40% of the house, and they own 60%, and you pay rent on the 60% that belongs to the lender. You pay rent on it. And you buy back, or you buy from them as you have the money, you buy back the rest of the house from them, and the more of the house you own, then the less rent you pay.

So for example if you started with 40%, and then you bought another 20%, then you will only pay rent on the 40% of the lender. That is the only way that I know that is halal to acquire a house, but Allah knows best. If you can find something like that, Alhamdulillah, no problem at all. It is not haram to own your own house. It is good to own your own house. But what is haram is the means that you use to acquire it.

Question 8: How Were Christians Forced to Believe in the Trinity?

You said that the Christians were forced to believe in the Trinity by Constantine. If this is true, how were they forced? And how did they force all the Christians that had spread outside the Roman Empire to believe this also?

A Brief Answer

This is a very, very big topic of course. There is no way I could begin to cover that in the talk. Of course not all Christians were forced to believe in the Trinity. They were not able to force all Christians to believe in the Trinity. But they did impose that belief upon a large section of the Roman Empire.

Constantine's Actions

They actually, Constantine ordered the burning of all Gospels except the four Gospels that had been chosen in the council. And there were hundreds if not thousands of other Gospels existing. He ordered them all to be burnt. And in fact anyone who was found in possession of a Gospel other than those four was actually put to death. So the Roman Empire of course had an enormous amount of power at its disposal in that sense. So they were able to by and large pretty much impose that Trinitarian concept upon a large portion of the Roman Empire.

Recommended Reading

Sorry that's a very short answer to that question. It deserves a longer answer. If you'd like to research into this issue about the Roman Empire and Christianity a little bit more there's a very good book available. It's called Jesus a Prophet of Islam. It's very interesting because the writer goes to non-Muslim sources and well-recognized Western historians and talks very deeply and in detail about the monotheistic Christianity. The version of Christianity that teaches that Jesus was not God and he was not in any literal sense the son of God.

And he shows how there was a strong monotheistic pure monotheistic tradition from the earliest times in fact until today amongst the Christians. And there's a lot of history in there about how the Trinitarian doctrine was imposed and so on and so forth. So that's a very good book. Jesus a Prophet of Islam. Refer to that inshallah.

Question 9: Democracy is Islam? Music is Not Haram?

Okay. It's a bit of an essay here mashallah. Oh I like this one. Democracy is Islam. Music is not haram. What is this? Apart from accusing me of being shallow and having a lack of insight. I think this is all the thing. And then he says Democracy is Islam. Music is not haram. Muslims should use their reason and common sense. Mashallah. Oh family planning. Oh yes. Mashallah. Real Coca-Cola Muslim here. Mashallah.

What is Democracy?

Democracy is Islam. Let's deal with that. Democracy is Islam. Subhanallah. What is democracy? Again in my shallow and simplistic interpretation of things but historically correct. You can check in the dictionary or any book on political ideology.

Democracy is a system that claims or teaches that the rule is for the people. The people decide in democracy what is allowed and what is not allowed, what is forbidden and what is not forbidden. This is what democracy means. Democracy means the rule of the people. Anyone who knows what democracy is, anyone who knows the meaning of democracy knows that that's what it means.

Why Democracy Contradicts Islam

So how can democracy be Islam? Because Islam teaches that the rule is for Allah. That Allah is the sovereign. Allah alone has the right and the authority, God alone has the right and the authority to decide what is halal and

what is haram, what is good and what is evil. Therefore whoever attributes and whoever claims that people have that right has made shirk with Allah. In fact democracy is nothing except pure shirk and kufr of the highest order. It is shirk and kufr. So this is like saying kufr is Islam. Shirk is Islam. Subhanallah.

Democracy has nothing to do with Islam and Islam walhamdulillah has nothing to do with democracy. Democracy is a system where any evil can be made allowed. Any evil. You name it. You name the evil.

The Dangers of Democracy

It can be not only made allowed it can be made obligatory. Homosexuality. Homosexuality can be made not only legal if they wanted you could have compulsory lessons in homosexuality if they wanted in a democratic society if enough of them decided. Is this Islam? Does Islam allow you to vote in and out the laws of Allah? This is what is the meaning of democracy. The sovereignty is with the people. Islam says the sovereignty is with Allah.

What Allah made haram is haram and what Allah made halal is halal and it does not change. It stays the same. This is Islam.

Shura is Not Democracy

If some people say Oh! We have shura in Islam. Shura is shura. It's not democracy. Shura is shura. It's not democracy. It's a different thing. Shura is when a few, a very few, 5 or 6 of the most knowledgeable and pious and trustworthy people amongst the Muslim community come together, 5 or 6 of them maybe a few more maybe less to decide who should be the next Khalifa. This is nothing to resemble democracy whatsoever.

The Coca-Cola Muslim Mentality

However, I'm glad someone brought this up because this is a perfect example of the Coca-Cola Muslim mentality. People who have become so infatuated with the West. They look at the West Oh! The technology Oh! The this Oh! The West The West. They've become so infatuated and so embarrassed about their religion that they now have to say that look look we have democracy you see Islam has democracy it's called shura.

An Analogy to Understand the Problem

Think about it like this. Imagine we lived in a time, imagine now we lived in a time where there was this civilization, powerful civilization with powerful technology, economically, militarily dominant and their system was prostitution. They had a system of prostitution. If a man wanted to go with a woman you know he visited a prostitute. That was it. That's all they had. Prostitution. And that was their accepted norm and they said this is the way prostitution is the good way it's civilized it's this and that you see the woman she gets paid and you know she gets looked after and you know she's not exploited and you know there you go you see it's justice and you see uncivilized people.

And so someone comes along and says we Muslims we've got prostitution too. It's called nikah. You see the woman we get married to her and we give her mahr a dowry we pay her some money we've got prostitution as well. Yes? Why not? Why not? Because what? Because you're so affected by someone you want to say we've got democracy Islam does not have democracy.

A Clear Conclusion

Either the person who said this does not know what democracy is or they do not know what Islam is. One of the two things. Or the worst thing would be that they know what democracy is and they know what Islam is but they still say this may Allah protect us. Subhanallah.

Question 10: Is Music Haram?

Music is not haram. MashaAllah. This is exactly what the Prophet said some Muslims would say. The Prophet said that Muslims will say this.

The Prophetic Warning

In Sahih al-Bukhari, the most authentic collection of sayings and the most authentic source of information about Islam after the Quran, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) he said that people from my ummah will make things halal which I made haram. They will make musical instruments, the wearing of gold and silk for men and the drinking of wine. And they will call it another name. He said they will try to make halal what I have made haram. (Sahih al-Bukhari 5590)

So the fact that this person says that music is not haram and he's claiming to be a Muslim walhamdulillah I believe even more in Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) because he said that some Muslims would come along and they would say that. However walhamdulillah I believe in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) he is my Prophet not the person who wrote this question.

The Scholarly Consensus

So I believe what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said he said it is haram and there's many many many evidences from the teachings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from the opinions of the companions from the jamhoor, the saying of all four imams, all of them said that music, musical instruments are haram. So this is the consensus of the companions, the jamhoor of the imams based upon the authentic sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that is my deen walhamdulillah.

Question 11: Common Sense and Family Planning

And as for Muslims using their reason and common sense about family planning and should only exercise polygamy in a socially politically justified context, social morally justified context, use lots of nice long words alhamdulillah but again what I want to say is bring your proof if what you say is true. What is your proof to say

that something which Allah he made halal and he didn't limit it to being halal to this place or that place or this time or this time, what is your proof to do that?

Common Sense is Not Proof in Islam

Common sense, common sense is not a proof in Islam. In fact as Ali ibn Talib said if the deen was based upon your aql then we would have wiped the bottom of our shoes not the top of our shoes or we would have wiped the bottom of our socks not the top of our socks but I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wipe the top of his socks. The deen is not based on aql nor is the text of the Quran and the sunnah subject to interpretation based upon our feeble reasoning.

Where Do You Stop?

If we do that we will chuck everything out of the window. So pig is not haram why? Because we have clean pigs now yes we have clean pig farms it was only haram in those days because of the climate because it was hot because such and such and there were many diseases but now we can inject the pigs we can make them free from disease we can have a clean situation so the pig is halal because the situation is different yes where do you stop? If this is your way of understanding Islam where do you stop?

I even heard one person say we don't need to make wudu anymore this is what one so called Muslim said. Why? Because in Arabia it was dusty and it was dirty and it was hot you know but we live in England now we have showers all the time you don't need to make wudu. Where do you stop? Where do you stop playing around with the deen if it's all according to your common sense?

The Disease of the Coca-Cola Muslim

Subhanallah what sort of this is wallahi this is the coca cola Muslim this is the person who has been so brainwashed and so indoctrinated by the west that this person has lost their Islam all together. Wallahi the person who wrote this question I think you lost your Islam I really think you lost your Islam it's so sad to find someone writing stuff like that and it is so alhamdulillah in a way because this really shows us the disease and the problem that we have.

Mashallah if this person used their common sense they would have realized that Islam is not something that is subjected to common sense. Muslim means someone who submits to Allah. A Muslim is we hear and we obey.

Question 12: Family Planning in Detail

As for family planning, you want to use your common sense I'll use my common sense but my common sense will be based upon what the prophet said. He said let me be pleased with you when I see you on the day of judgment and come with big families, come with big families. And the prophet said that one of the ways that we will overcome the people is through our numbers, our numbers brothers and sisters.

The Reality of Declining Birth Rates

Common sense use a bit of intelligence look at the facts. The birth rate in the western countries is going down. People who are more interested in their careers, women who are more interested in their jobs, more interested in earning money and having a nice comfortable life because that's what it's about they don't want to have babies. Even when they do have babies now they're discussing they want to be paid to have the babies they want maternity leave it's going to cost the estimated Australia 300 million dollars or billion dollars, I don't remember in order to implement their maternity leave.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's probably a good thing but that's the point they don't want to leave their work so the birth rate is declining.

The Economic Consequences

What does that mean? The birth rate is declining. If you know economics then you will realize and they have studied this. When the birth rate of a nation, when the birth rate of a nation reaches or when the elderly population reaches over 30% meaning the people who are over 65, that number reaches over 30% and it will only reach that level because there are no more new children being born so the number of new children goes down and the number of old people goes up, what happens is you get a country that is economically not viable, it cannot run itself economically.

Because the number of people who are old are exceeding the new generations who are coming up who are going to generate the money, who are going to work, who are going to do it, so on and so forth and the elderly population consume a lot of resources in terms of care and hospital treatment and all that type of stuff. So what happens is you get an economic imbalance and the economy collapses, this is what's happening in the west now.

The Western Attempt to Reverse This

Having now decided that we have liberated the women and it's the most enduring revolution of the 20th century women's liberation, now they are trying in Italy and France and now in Australia to get women back into the home and start having babies again, why? Because they realize their economy is going to collapse.

The Muslim Opportunity

So don't you think Muslim brothers and sisters we've got a bit of an opportunity here? They're not having babies anymore so what instead, we have the babies yeah. What happens, you know in Canada I heard that 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 child being born is a Muslim, think about that, 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 child being born is a Muslim. What does that do to the demographic shift of the Muslim population in 20 years time? If instead of you having 2.5 kids or 2.6 or whatever it is now, you have 10 or you have 7 or you have 8, subhanallah what is that going to do to the numbers of Muslims?

The Scholarly Ruling

And since when does, subhanallah this is what the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has told us many scholars, many many scholars, subhanallah many good, reliable, trustworthy scholars, not the scholars who say oh, I use my aql about everything but the scholars who go back to the Quran and the Sunnah and they say and they want to know, what does Allah want us to do, what does Allah want what is pleasing to Allah. Many of them said, it is haram to stop having children without a particular definite need or necessity, it is haram.

You can have a break in order to recover, that's no problem. You can have a break if the woman is weak, okay or she is, you know, it's very difficult for her, then it's no problem to have a break, okay. But to say, I'm going to have 2 children and that's it, I'm going to have 3 and that's it and then we're finished, no, that's not allowed. To organize it to a certain extent to plan it, to have breaks no problem, but to just say we're going to have a couple of kids and that's it, we're not having any more this is not allowed, this is haram.

Why Muslims Think This Way

This contradicts what Allah ordered through his messenger. Many scholars spoke about that, brothers and sisters, and the fact that we have that attitude, why, why do we think like that? What are the things that make us think like that? Look at it. It's the same reason that the disbelievers give. Children are a rizq, they are provision from Allah, every child comes with its provision but the kuffar they say, well if we have this they actually plan how many kids can we afford to have. The clothes will cost this much, the food will cost this much, the nanny will cost that much, the private school will cost this much, we are earning this much therefore, how many kids can we afford, 1.5 maybe he'll be a small one or a...that's how they think, really they do that.

But that's not us, brothers and sisters that's not how the Muslims are supposed to think. So thank you for that mashallah, very nice question I'm going to keep it, frame it.

Question 13: How to Improve Coca-Cola Muslims

Okay that's a bit of a, I'm going to leave that question not that it's a bad question. Another, no Muhammad, no Mecca on Coca-Cola. This is good. What do you advise or what do you do to make the Coca-Cola Muslims improve their condition?

The Solution: Return to Your Deen

Alhamdulillah, it's a very good question. I think if you listen to what I've been saying, then Alhamdulillah I think you might have pretty much grasped the answer to this question, how and what do we do, what do we need to do brothers and sisters, it's very simple. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) already told us, he described our condition he said, soon the nations will gather together to take from you as I mentioned in the Hadith.

And no, that's another Hadith, so the other Hadith where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) he mentioned, he said this is another Hadith, sorry I didn't mention this one: "When you abandon Jihad and you hang on to the tails of the cows and content yourself with agriculture and you deal in Ina, then Allah will permit your humiliation at the hands of your enemies and He will not lift it from you until you return to your Deen."

(Sunan Abu Dawud 3462)

This is another Hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that is very similar to the one we mentioned, so this Hadith also describes, when you abandon Jihad and you hang on to the tails of the cows, when you just get happy with your 9 to 5 life, going to work, coming back going to school, coming to back, you're just happy with that, and you deal in Ina, Ina is this very small type of Riba, of interest.

Allah is the One Who Allows Humiliation

So when you do these things, then Allah, Allah, he didn't say Mossad, America the CIA, the Masonic Zionist Jewish Coca-Cola conspiracy, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said Allah, He will permit your humiliation, Allah will allow that to happen and Allah will not lift it from you, Allah will not lift the humiliation from you, until you return to your Deen, you return to your religion brothers and sisters.

Stop Blaming Others

This is something we have to wait, we have to stop blaming our problems on everybody else, America, Israel, Coca-Cola, they wrote, no Mecca, no Muhammad, they put Allah's name on the Nike shoes, you know, we want to blame everything the leaders, the this, the that. Brothers and sisters Subhanallah, let's stop blaming everybody else you know, I think if we look at ourselves, we will find a lot to occupy ourselves with, how we can change ourselves as individuals, how we can change ourselves as a community here in Perth yes, there's a lot Alhamdulillah, that we can do.

The Prophet's Guidance

So brothers and sisters, we need to return to our Deen, this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. It may, someone once complained in another lecture oh, that's very simplistic well, I don't want to accuse the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of suggesting something simplistic, this is what the Prophet said, the reality is brothers and sisters, we have come far away from our Deen, we have come far away from our Deen and we need to return to our Deen.

And the Deen is that religion which was practiced by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) 1400 years ago, the religion that Muhammad practiced, that he taught and that his companions followed, that is the religion of Islam, it's not the things that we've invented and the things that we've added and the things that we've introduced all these years afterwards. The Deen is what Allah revealed to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Saying of Imam Malik

And Subhanallah beautiful saying of Imam Malik, Imam Malik said that nothing will reform, nothing will reform the end of this Ummah, except that which reformed the beginning. Nothing is going to improve the situation of us except that which improved the situation of the companions. So if we want to have the strength and the victory and the honor and the dignity again, then we have to return to what they were upon brothers and sisters, that's what we need to do.

And in every aspect not just in how we pray, not just in our Aqeedah but also in our manners, our Adab, our Akhlaq, our attitudes to life, all of these things, comprehensively we need to return. Mashallah.

Question 14: What Motivated You to Embrace Islam?

Okay, what motivated me to embrace Islam? That's a good question. I just gave a talk about that this afternoon. Alhamdulillah, very briefly what motivated me to embrace Islam was reading a translation of the Quran, that is Alhamdulillah, what motivated me to read the Quran, to become Muslim. Jazakallah Khair.

Question 15: Marriage Difficulties

Okay brothers and sisters, we're gonna just answer a few more questions because as you can see, I'm sort of getting slower and slower here. Maybe I need some Coca-Cola, it's the real thing. Just to let you know it's not haram to drink Coca-Cola.

Oh yes, right okay alright alright that's it now, I'm finished now. What should we do as Muslim men, who want to get married? Mashallah find a sister go to her dad say, you know, will you let me marry her. What are you talking about?

Okay, no actually this is a very good question because they want to educate their daughter or because of your previous marriage, okay, are those Muslims, you know actually I'm getting a bit worried now. Now it says, are those Muslims part of the Coca-Cola club or is there another ID for them?

A Warning About Labeling

Now I'm really getting worried because now what I think is gonna happen is people are gonna start saying, you're a Coca-Cola Muslim, we're gonna have a new sect in Islam now, so brothers and sisters, please don't use this as an excuse to start labeling each other and everyone attacking everybody, you know. Why don't you look to yourself first, Inshallah you know, you might find there's more Coca-Cola in you than in other people, you know.

The Prophetic Guidance on Marriage

But anyway, no, the point is a good point, you know brothers again this comes down to what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, oh young men he said, young men, get married, get married if you are able, if you have the ability, what's the ability? The Sharia

defines the ability as what? You've got a Mercedes and you've got a big bank account and you've got a nice car and you know, no, that's not able, ability in the Sharia means that you're sexually able and that you have a dwelling, this is ability okay, you have those two conditions you are therefore qualified and able to get married that's the first thing.

And if you are not able, then you should dedicate yourself to fasting, you should dedicate yourself to fasting okay because that helps to lessen the desire. So this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. So number one, advice young men, get married if you are able, you have meaning what the scholars defined, ability, you are sexually able and you have a dwelling. If not, fast, why? Because this helps to lower your gaze and guard your private parts, okay.

Haste in Marriage

The Prophet also said, and he said the haste is from Shaitaan except in three things. Haste is from Shaitaan except in three things, one is making Tawbah, one is making Tawbah repenting to Allah, the other, I don't remember, I think the other one is doing good deeds and the other is getting your daughters married, meaning it is one of the things in Islam that you should make haste, you should make haste to get your daughters married, it's another thing to remember, this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said.

The Father's Obligation

The third thing to remember is the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that if a man comes to you and he asks for your daughter's hand in marriage and you find nothing wrong with him in his character and his Deen then you must not refuse or there will be great Fitnah and great Fasad upon the face of the earth.

Therefore, a man who refuses to get his daughter married to a Muslim and there is nothing wrong with his Deen and nothing wrong with his character then this person is creating Fitnah and Fasad, he is creating trials and he is creating Fasad which means you know, open wickedness and evil on the earth.

This is a proof that it is not allowed that if a man comes to you and you find nothing wrong with his Deen and you find nothing wrong with his character it is Haram, it is really Haram to refuse him, ok, it is Haram so, every father should remember that.

The Girl's Choice

Of course, I want to say this is for the father, if the girl, not because her father says, if you marry him I am going to do this and that but if the girl really she doesn't like him, she doesn't like the way he looks you know, or whatever then she doesn't have to marry him, she doesn't have to marry him, that's between her and the brother, right. But of course you need the Wali, the permission of the guardian who is the father generally before you can get married, there is no marriage without the approval of the guardian.

But the father is not allowed to refuse if there is no default in his character and in his Deen but of course, the girl has the choice to marry him or not to marry him. Those three things brothers and sisters, everyone who

Islam Does Not Distinguish by Race

Everyone who fears Allah and this does not therefore distinguish between color, between race as some people seem to think, I don't know where what planet they got this idea from, that Islam does not allow intermixing of marriages and intercultural marriages and that we have to marry from our own culture, this is absolute rubbish, in fact we don't, we find that Islam teaches something quite different from that. Alhamdulillah, if that's what you want and what the girl wants, well Alhamdulillah no problem, you know.

But if someone comes to you and he happens to be you know, he happens to be black or white or Arab or whatever and you're from a different thing, that is not one of the reasons you can give to say no, it is not a reason, the Prophet only said deen and character, not the color of the skin or not the cultural background, his religion and his character, those are the only two things that you can look at.

Anyway we could talk about this for a long time but really we appeal to all the brothers and sisters really to fear Allah in this regard. It's something very very important and actually that's a similar question, MashaAllah.

Question 16: Stopping Cultural Imperialism

Okay, and that's I think we answered that one about how can we stop the cultural imperialism. Alhamdulillah I think come back to our deen and start practicing Islam and learning about Islam and implementing what we know.

Question 17: Is It Wise to Make Hijrah?

Is it wise for us to make hijrah? Brothers and sisters you know if you obey Allah you'll find that's going to be, you know you fear Allah and you obey him and you trust in him it's going to be enough for you. Allah he said in the Quran that whoever makes hijrah, they will find many a spacious dwelling on the earth, this is what Allah said. (Quran 4:100)

Allah is not a liar, Allah is the one when he says something Allah he keeps his promise. So Subhanallah, believe me brothers and sisters Allah's earth is spacious and there are many places to make hijrah if that's what you have to do believe me, Alhamdulillah, Allah will make it easy for you, InshaAllah if that's your good intention and you do it for the sake of Allah.

Question 18: The Ideology of Polygamy

Okay I find it hard to accept the ideology of polygamy in today's Muslim world. Why is it practiced so loosely? What are the conditions for the practices of polygamy?

Polygamy is Not an Ideology

Okay polygamy is not an ideology, polygamy is something that has been permitted by Allah in the book, in the Quran. In fact Allah he said marry 2, 3 or 4, marry the orphan girls 2, 3 or 4 and if you cannot do that then marry one, if you can't be just, marry one. (Quran 4:3)

The Misunderstanding About Justice

Justice does not mean as some people say that it's impossible to be just because in another place in the Quran it mentions you will never be able to be just between your wives and they say you see, this proves that you can never be just therefore you can't enter into polygamy, but this is a completely perverted way to understand the book of Allah. (Quran 4:129)

Because you will ultimately therefore have to say if you are following the correct methodology of interpreting that, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), because the Quran was revealed to the Prophet and this command was to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), first of all it was to the Prophet so therefore Allah commanded the Prophet with something which he couldn't do and the Prophet as we know (peace and blessings be upon him) had more than one wife, he had nine wives, therefore you're saying and accusing the Prophet of being unjust to his wives and therefore disobeying Allah. Subhanallah, look where you get when you try to explain things in a way that you try to make it fit with your desires or with your interpretations rather than understanding the book and the sunnah, the way it was understood by the Prophet and his companions.

What Justice Means in Polygamy

So when Allah said you will never be able to do justice between your wives, that means concerning love, you'll never be able to love your wives equally and Allah did not require the man to love his wives equally, he did not require that from them. What he required from the man is that he gives the wives equal time and he gives the wives equal gifts. So if he gives one wife something, he must give the other wife equally and if he spends this time with the wife, he should spend the equal time with the wife. This is what is in his hands, this is what he is capable of dealing justly with.

The Conditions of Polygamy

What are the conditions of polygamy? The conditions are that you are able to do that type of justice, you are able to give equal gifts and you are able to give equal time. If you are not able to do that then you should not enter into the polygamous situation. If you are not able to do, if you're the sort of person, if your first wife is going to give you such a hard time and she's going to nag you and this and that and blah blah blah and you know you don't love me and this and that and whatever and then you get so, you actually stop seeing your second wife and maybe you see her only once a week to make your first wife happy, then you are not someone

who is capable of being just and you should not enter into polygamy because now you are doing injustice to the second wife.

The Warning for Injustice

And then you will come on the day of judgment as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said with half of your body will be paralyzed, the person who was unfair and unequal to his wives.

A Practical Consideration

Now of course someone may argue that well in this day and age who really could be just to their wives and that might be quite a good argument because looking at the Coca-Cola Muslims if we can't even practice some you know basic things about our deen properly how are we going to practice something difficult like polygamy, that might be actually quite a good argument and I have a certain inclination towards that that I do think that most of the brothers and the sisters not all of them, Alhamdulillah not all of them, this is a personal thing now but I do think that anyway a lot of the brothers and sisters are not really how can I say, equipped to deal with this situation.

They are not equipped in terms of knowledge, they are not equipped in terms of the patience, they are not equipped in terms of the wealth that these things require. So you know it is better you know to fear Allah and remain with one wife than to do injustice. But if you have the money and you have the patience and you have the capability and the women have the understanding between each other Alhamdulillah, you know Alhamdulillah it's not a problem and there's no one to say and no one can say that you know it's forbidden.

False Conditions

Some people by the way brothers and sisters they lay down conditions and they say for example the woman has to be incapable of giving birth and you know she has to agree, some say she has to give her agreement. I'm trying to think of the other sort of conditions that they lay down, those are the two, she has a medical condition you know that he can't you know have intimate relations with her and stuff like that, so they lay these conditions down however all of these conditions are false there is no proof or evidence from them at all.

The Prophetic Example

You know for example we did not find the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) going up to Aisha and say oh Aisha do you mind if I get another wife, I'm going to get married now, no, he didn't do that. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went and he got married and nor do we find the companions seeking permission from their wives.

The Modern Context

However, we have to say that polygamy in that time was something widely practiced and it was a norm, it was a normal way of behaving, this is not the situation that we have today, and we always have to remember that our

wives are not just our wives, they are our sisters in Islam as well, so they have rights on us as our wives and they have rights on us as Muslims and it should not be the manner of the relationship between the husband and the wife, that he goes and does something like that without talking to his wife, without caring about her feelings without you know coming to some agreement between themselves.

Because this is the reality of our situation brothers and sisters, in those days a man got married again and that was just not something anyone questioned you know, it was just normal to do it but today people don't find it normal, so we have to deal with every situation as we find it inshallah. We're not making something that Allah made halal or haram, only we are saying that we have to remember all of Islam, we have to remember our rights and our duties and our obligations upon each other and to support each other and help each other inshallah, so anyway Alhamdulillah, that's that's it inshallah.

Question 19: Coca-Cola Backwards

Okay, this is the last few questions brothers and sisters. MashaAllah, there's about 10 questions on the Coca-Cola backwards, saying no Mecca, no Muhammad so, maybe if we keep saying it enough we might actually really believe it, you know, you know what they say yes, it's a nice comment.

Question 20: Good Relations with Family

Oh yeah, does a good Muslim need to have good relations with both his and her family to try and give them dawah? Yeah I think, not think, but subhanAllah Islam really stresses the importance of the family, the family in general, but specifically the mother and also the father, but most of all the mother has the highest level of treatment in Islam.

The Treatment of Parents

And we know that Allah and the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) really emphasize the kind treatment of the mother and also of course the father, but the mother has degrees above even the father in her kind treatment. In fact to the degree that a Muslim should not even say uff, should not even say uff to their parents when they are elderly and in fact the scholars mentioned if there was something that was less than uff, Allah would have said it, you know meaning saying ha, that's the like the smallest thing you can say right, what can you say less than ha, but you shouldn't even say like that ha to your mother and father, subhanAllah subhanAllah.

So definitely you should have good relationships with your parents and it doesn't matter whether they're Muslim or not Muslim. Even if they're not Muslim, you must keep good relations with them, the only thing is of course is that if they order you to do something forbidden in Islam then you don't do it and if they order you to give up something that you have to do, then you can't obey them, whether your parents are Muslim or not.

When to Disobey Parents

So if your parents say don't pray it's impossible, you have to pray. If your parents say take off your hijab you can't take off your hijab, if your parents say shave your beard you can't shave your beard, okay. If your parents say don't wear a turban what do you think? You obey them or not? You obey them, why? Why do you obey them? Because exactly, because wearing the turban, it's good kids from the Muslim school, alhamdulillah.

Then because why, wearing the turban is sunnah, it's mustahab right but obeying the parents is fard, yeah meaning you have to do it, so if they order you to do, if they say don't do this thing which you don't have to do it then leave it and if they order you to do something that it doesn't matter whether you do it or not then do it, alhamdulillah.

But if they order you to do something haram, forbidden you can't, if they order you to leave something that's obligatory, you can't do that, otherwise your parents are the most deserving of your good treatment, subhanallah.

Question 21: Correcting a Muslim Doing Wrong

Okay, if you see a Muslim do something wrong and you don't know them well, should I tell them? It's a good question generally in Islam, alhamdulillah we know that the prophet said if you see an evil, change it with your hand and if you can't change it with your hand, change it with your tongue, if you can't change it with your tongue, then at least hate it in your heart, but that's the weakest form of faith. (Sahih Muslim 49)

So yes, we are obliged if we see evil, to change it, but we have to think, we want to change the evil, first of all we want to change the evil, we don't want to make that person do more evil, so we have to think about how to do that you know.

The Beautiful Example of Hassan and Hussain

And I want to give a beautiful example from a story from Hassan and Hussain, once they saw a man, an old man making wudu, but he was making it wrong, so they thought to themselves, how shall we tell him, you know he's old, he's a respected man if we just tell him, you know this is wrong and you're doing it wrong he won't accept it, so subhanallah they came up with an idea.

So one of them started making wudu and then he went to sit next to the man and he started making wudu and he looked at him and he said, I noticed that you're making wudu differently from me so I'm just going to make wudu and you tell me what I'm doing wrong. This is what one of them said, Hassan and Hussain, so he started making it and when he finished the old man looked at him and he said, you know you're making it wrong, so this is the way they used, you know, their wisdom to make people accept the truth you understand.

Use Wisdom

So you see someone doing, ah what you're doing like that, you know and you do it in front of everybody you know so that person is going to almost definitely, you know, will not accept what you're saying, so you have to

think you know, so alhamdulillah if you do see a Muslim doing something wrong try to advise them or you could get someone, you think, if they don't listen to you, for example, if you're a small kid, yeah, maybe you know that he's a grown up, he's not going to listen to me, so maybe you could go to the imam or you could go to some respected person who that person you know they will listen to and get them to advise that person you could do that as well, inshallah.

Question 22: Accepting Money from Dismissal

Okay, we've done that one. Okay, last few questions it's another one about Coca-Cola being written backwards, okay, I was unfairly dismissed from my job and my boss offered me money to drop the case, is it halal to accept the money? I don't see any problem to accept the money, inshallah.

Question 23: Is Growing a Beard Compulsory?

Is growing a beard compulsory? Well, the quick answer is yes, it's compulsory for the men, of course.

Closing Remarks

So brothers and sisters there was a few other questions, there was a few other questions alhamdulillah, good questions. One was about ad-dajjal and the signs before the day of judgement, but really we don't have time to talk about those things, there are tapes and there are lectures available, alhamdulillah, about that. I think I did one when I was here before not here in Perth, but in Australia and I know the brothers have some others.

A Final Warning

So anyway brothers and sisters, we'd like to finish anyway, just reminding ourselves subhanallah, that what we talked about today this is not something that I want you to use in order to attack each other and to point the fingers at other Muslim brothers and other Muslim sisters, nor do I want now, you know people saying, oh Coca-Cola Muslim.

Brothers and sisters, this is really a talk to remind us about what is Islam, what is our purpose in life, why are we here, what are we supposed to be doing with ourselves and we have to be careful. We have to be careful we live in the west, it is very very easy, it is too easy to get lost and to get attracted and to compromise our deen. You know brothers and sisters, it happens and we don't even realize it, you know it happens and we don't even realize it that we are going further and further away from our deen.

The Greatest Disaster

And before we know it we start saying that something that is from kufr is from Islam, and that we start attributing something that is from Islam to say it is from kufr and before we know it we start to change the very deen of Allah and that is the greatest disaster, that is the greatest disaster.

Return to Pure Islam

So we have to come back, we have to read the Quran, we have to read the authentic sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), we have to study the lives and the teachings and the actions of the companions and the early scholars, we need to come back to the pure Islam, the real Islam and Alhamdulillah brothers and sisters, Allah will give us all the good, Inshallah in this life and the next life.

And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.