The Purpose of Life

The Purpose of Life

Shaykh Abdur Raheem Green

Opening and Introduction

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Say, He is Allah, the One, Allah, the Ever-Lasting, He was not begotten, nor does He beget, and to Him there is no equal. (Quran 112:1-4)

I bear witness that Allah, the One, is worthy of worship, and that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger. My name is Abdur Raheem Green. I work in the London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre, also known as Regent's Park Mosque. I'm the visits and outreach coordinator there. I've been a Muslim for about 19 years. I come from a Roman Catholic background. I went to a school called Ampleforth College, a Roman Catholic master boarding school. I converted to Islam when I was about 22 years old.

It's really very nice to be able to talk to you today a little bit about Islam. Let's really get straight to it. What I would really like to talk about is what is Islam if you are a Muslim? It may seem an obvious question to some people. It may, you know, to other people be a very good question, and the answer is not really as simple as it first appears.

Understanding Islam: Religion vs. Civilization

So let's talk about what is Islam. That's the first thing I want to talk about. What do we mean when we talk about Islam? There is a lot of confusion in the media and in people's minds. In fact, even Muslims themselves are very confused sometimes about exactly what Islam is.

The term or the label Islam is used or is applied to two distinct but interrelated things. The two things that the term Islam is applied to are: number one, what we can call the religion of Islam. By that, I mean what God revealed in the Quran to Prophet Muhammad and what the Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, taught and practiced 1,400 years ago. In the strictest sense, that really is what Islam is. Islam, and that's what I'm going to be talking about today mostly, is what God or Allah, the Arabic word for God, revealed to Prophet Muhammad 1,427 years ago.

But the term Islam is also used to refer to 1,400 years of civilization that is given the generic term Islamic civilization. It is very important, first of all, for us Muslims to recognize and realize the difference between Islam, the religion, and Islam, the civilization. And it's also quite important for people who are not Muslim to recognize the difference between the two things. Because not everything that has taken place and not everything

that has been done under this general, broader term, Islamic civilization, is necessarily compatible or agrees with the religion of Islam or the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad.

Religion and Culture: A Critical Distinction

So what we really have here is a contrast between religion and culture. And this is something that exists with every religion, of course. It exists with Christianity, it exists with Hinduism, it exists in all religious traditions.

But I think it is maybe particularly pronounced in the case of Islam, in the case of Muslims, because Islam is a way of life that really is so much concerned with every detail of our existence.

The religion of Islam really does permeate every single aspect of life. And I don't mean just our daily personal life, I mean also our public life, our family life, our political life, our economic life, to the extent that Muslims don't, or even Islam and Muslims generally, still don't really recognize a clear distinction between the religious and the secular, between the sacred and the profane. For Muslims it is all one whole thing. And that is really something that comes from the teaching of the religion of Islam itself.

Therefore, the way Muslims live their everyday lives, they naturally believe and think that that is Islam. But very often, and quite often, the things that Muslims actually do may not necessarily be from the religion.

Sometimes really what it is, is their cultural practice, which of course contains, as I've already mentioned, a lot of the religion in it. But there is this conflict, there is this distinction between the civilization, the culture, and the actual religion itself.

Examples of Cultural Practices vs. Islamic Teachings

These things can be mixed up to the extent that sometimes, in fact, people can adopt cultural practices which contradict the religion, and actually think that it's part of the religion. Let's take some well-known examples, well-known because publicity has been given to them. Let's take, for example, female genital mutilation. And I don't mean here a female circumcision that has been practiced from the time of the Prophet Muhammad until now, which is a very, very small operation. I mean female genital mutilation. This is a practice that has been condemned and was condemned by the Prophet Muhammad. Yet it is practiced by some Muslims, and they believe that it is part of their religion.

Another example is forced marriage. This is an even clearer example because, in fact, forced marriages are actually not recognized as being a legal marriage contract in Islamic law. In other words, a forced marriage is invalid in Islamic sharia or in Islamic law. Yet there are many Muslims who imagine that forced marriage is a perfectly normal, acceptable, and perhaps even they consider it a religiously good practice, but in fact it actually contradicts the teachings of the religion.

These are, for example, a few examples. And therefore it is important to conceptually begin to make a distinction. And the first people who need to do that are indeed Muslims themselves. So what I really want to do

is to define Islam, the religion. What does it mean? And the way I like to do that is by looking into what I call the three key concepts.

The Foundation: Three Key Concepts

The whole of the religion of Islam is based around three key ideas, three key concepts. There are many, many things to the religion that are relatively easy for you to find out about, but I think that what I'm going to talk about today is something that would not be so easy to get from a textbook or a leaflet or the internet. The three key concepts are how Muslims look at the world.

Understanding Worldviews and Beliefs

Before I'm going to go there, I'm going to go into a little bit of a philosophical discussion about how do we look at the world and what makes us look at the world the way that we do. So the first thing is that I'm sure you can all agree that every human being has a worldview. We, all of us, have a set of beliefs, a set of values. And those beliefs and values are the prism or the spectacles through which we look at the world. We make sense of the world through these ideas and these beliefs that we have.

To give you a simple example, and this is going to relate to one of the key concepts that I'm going to talk about: a person who believes that there is a God and who believes that when we die there is going to be a day of judgment is going to behave differently and is going to relate differently in the world and to the world than a person who believes that when we're dead, that's it, there's nothing more to life. Inevitably, those two beliefs are going to impact differently. The person is going to relate to the world, each of those two people is going to relate to the world in a different way.

Everything they look at, the trees, the sun, the moon, the stars—as a Muslim, when I look at the trees, when I look at the birds, when I look at the flowers, when I look at everything, it takes on a certain meaning that is influenced by my beliefs. So this is true of everybody. And it is part of what makes us human beings. Part of what makes us human is that we do have these values. We have some idea, all of us, about what we think is right, and what we think is wrong, and what we think is good, and what we think is evil, and what we think is the right way to behave, and what we think is the wrong way to behave.

Sources of Our Values and Beliefs

What I want us to think about is really where do we get those ideas from? So you all agree that you have some idea about what you think is right, wrong, good and evil, and what you should do, and what you shouldn't do. Where do you get those ideas from? Who told you this was right and this was wrong, and this is good and this is evil?

It starts probably with our parents. Society. Let's narrow it down. Government. School. Media. In my opinion, perhaps the single strongest and most influential factor in determining how we look at the world and what we

think is right and wrong. Religion, of course. The human mind. Our own reasoning capacities. Conscience. And really, we could think about a lot of influences. Our friends, even our enemies, dictate to us and influence the way we look at the world.

The Connection Between Belief and Action

What is important is that the beliefs that we hold influence the way that we behave. This is very important. How belief impacts on action. And this is something that Muslims hold to be true. When we talk in our religion about faith, we don't just mean a set of principles or a set of beliefs. Faith is defined as the belief in the heart, the profession of the tongue, and the action of the limbs. So faith increases and decreases. And it is really a truism.

Although it seems to us that in our society, a very secular society, we've got used to this idea that I can believe something, but it doesn't necessarily have to have any real impact on how I actually behave. But I think that if you really believe it, it will impact on how you behave. And if it doesn't, then you don't believe it. If I start shouting, there's a fire, there's a fire, and you keep sitting there, I reckon that you don't really believe it. If you believe it, you're going to get out of the room. So your belief influences actions. This is very, very important.

The Meaning of Islam: Submission

So all of us have beliefs. From where did we get them? Who told us this was right? Who told us this was wrong? And this is linked to what I've been saying. I want to talk about the word Islam. What does it mean? Now, some people say Islam means peace. And there is an argument for that. But from my understanding, the strongest meaning, or the strongest understanding of the meaning of the word Islam—it's an Arabic word, and this Arabic word has a meaning is from the Arabic word istislam, which means to submit or to surrender.

So Islam could be translated as submission or surrender. Now, of course, when I say submission and surrender, that almost universally in the West has a negative connotation. Why? Because of what we've been indoctrinated with. We in the West have been indoctrinated with the idea that we live in a free society. Has anybody ever said, it's a free country, I can do what I like? You've probably said that lots of times. And we are told constantly we should be grateful for our freedoms. Constantly being indoctrinated with we are free, we are free, we are free.

Questioning the Concept of Freedom

Now, I would like us to, first of all, think about that indoctrination and really wonder and think about how true, in fact, it really is. We're told we're free, but how free are we, in fact? You see, I have an idea of freedom: sitting on a Harley, where my hair, which used to be really long, and my hair blowing in the breeze, and there's that Born to be Wild song or something, Easy Rider or whatever it is. That has a connotation of freedom to me, but are you actually free to do that in the United Kingdom? You actually, by law, have to wear a safety helmet.

Now, of course, you can say, no, no, no, but you're free to not wear it if you want, but you have to face the consequences.

Imagine that.

Imagine that. You're owned by five masters. Each master is telling you to do something different. How does that sound? What sort of life do you think you're going to have? Think about it. Nice life? What do you think?

Miserable life.

But I reckon I have actually described your life right now. That is your life. For most of you, that is already your life. You are a slave owned by many masters. See if this sounds familiar: My parents want me to do this. My boyfriend—my parents don't really like my boyfriend. He wants me to do something else. My friends—they don't really like my boyfriend much, either. They want me and my girlfriend to do that. My boss says I should do this. My government says I should do that. The TV's telling me I should do this, but you know, me, myself, I don't feel like doing any of those things. I feel like doing something completely different.

Sound familiar? No wonder Prozac is the most prescribed drug in the history of drugs. Slaves to many masters.

This is the mental condition of people who are submitting and who are servants to many gods. They are worshipping many gods. They are slaves to many masters.

The Quranic Example of Servitude

This is the similitude or the example the Quran gives:

Allah presents an example: a slave owned by quarreling partners and another belonging exclusively to one man—are they equal in comparison? Praise be to Allah! But most of them do not know.

Who is better? Who is in a better condition? The one who is a slave to many masters, each one calling them in a different direction? Or the one who is a slave to one master, who is just and merciful and compassionate and wise?

Submission to One Master

So when we talk about submission, and Islam being submission, this is the key concept. This is what it is all about. Every human being is in a state of servitude and submission to someone or to something. But a Muslim is someone who has chosen to submit themselves to one master.

So if you ask me, Abdur Raheem, what do you think is right and wrong? And what do you think is good and evil? What do you think is the right way to behave and the wrong way to behave? From where do you get those ideas from? I will tell you, that is from God, which is what He has revealed in the Quran and on the tongue of His Messenger Muhammad.

Who is the one that dictates to you what you should do and what you shouldn't do? I don't have a conflict in my life. Do I make my parents happy? Do I make my wife happy? Do I make my kids happy? Do I just follow my desires and make myself happy? No. The one that I am a servant to is the one who has created me.

The Mercy and Wisdom of the Creator

And God, Allah the Creator, is merciful, the most merciful. Every chapter of the Quran starts with:

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

In the name of God, He is the most compassionate, the most merciful, the mercy giving.

He is the most wise. God has created us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And God does not actually need us. This is another very important thing. Because our governments need us. They need us to pay taxes. They need us to pay the money so that they can have their jobs. Even our parents—perhaps the parent-child relationship is one of the most selfless. Believe it. Parents expect things from their children and want things from their children most of the time.

But God actually does not need anything. He doesn't need us to worship Him. It's not like the more people worship God—you know those computer games, the God games? You get more people to worship the God and the more powerful the God gets. It's not like that. It doesn't make any difference to God. You worship Him or not, it's not going to make Him more or less powerful. He doesn't need us to worship Him. He doesn't need us to follow His guidance.

The guidance that God has given us is from Him, from His mercy, not from any need that He has. It is from our need. So this is the logic. This is the ethic. This is the philosophy that underlines what Islam is all about. So this is the first key concept: the concept of submission.

The Concept of Prophethood (Risalah)

How do we know, linked with this—and all of this is under the title of Risalah, of prophethood—how can we know what it is that God wants from us? What is good and evil and right and wrong and the right way to behave and the wrong way to behave as far as God is concerned?

We believe that God has given us revelation. He has given us guidance through His prophets. The Quran mentions a large number of prophets. Some of those names you may be familiar with, like, for example, Abraham, or Noah, or Moses, or Jesus. They are all mentioned as prophets of God in the Quran.

Why Prophets Must Be Human

But there's a very important point here: these prophets or messengers are all human beings. And they must be human beings. Because the prophets are not only people who have delivered a message and said, well, here's the message, you know, follow it. No, they themselves are living examples of how to implement that guidance that God has sent. So they are living examples. They are there not only to tell us, but to show us practically in their life.

And that is why we believe that they are human beings, but they are of the utmost highest moral character and fiber. This is what makes the prophets really different from everybody else: their level of truthfulness, honesty, trustworthiness, sincerity, patience, perseverance. Not for any other particular supernatural qualities, although there may be some concerning that. But they are human.

And the reason is very important. Because the Quran mentions that in the time of the Prophet Muhammad, people complained to him. Some of the people, the pagans, the idol worshippers, they said to the Prophet, well, you know, why didn't God send an angel? Why did he just send a man?

And the Quran replies:

Say, "If there were angels walking the earth, settled therein, We would have sent down to them from the heaven an angel as a messenger." (Quran 17:95)

If there were angels on the earth, God would have sent an angel. Because if you think about it, if an angel was a general example to all of us, what would we say? We'd say, well, you're an angel. Of course you can do that. You tell me, don't look at that beautiful girl, don't go and have some fun with her, because you're an angel. You don't feel the things that I feel. If you knew what it was like...

But the prophets are human. They have the same desires as us. They feel hunger, they feel thirst, they feel desire, they forget, they breathe, they sleep, they eat. They're human. But they were still able to follow God's guidance. That means that, therefore, we have this example in front of us that we can emulate.

So this is the key concept, that God has sent prophets, the prophets have given us this guidance, how we can live our life in submission to God. We all submit to someone or something. It's just a question of who and what.

The Concept of God (Tawhid)

What does Islam teach about God? The most simple way to explain it is through the word transcendence. Islam really emphasizes the transcendence of God, meaning God is not like anything in this universe. God is not like a human being. God is not like a created thing. And the distinction between the creator and the creation is the essence of the Islamic teaching about God.

In fact, the Quran tells us that, in a sense, this is the very purpose, the very reason that God has given us a mind, eyes with which to see, ears with which to hear, a mind with which to think, so that we could comprehend this fact. And therefore, now this is, I have to say, quite a hard concept to grasp conceptually.

The Sin of Shirk

But the worst sin, as far as God is concerned, is what is called shirk. Shirk means making something equal with God. To imagine that something in this universe has any of the unique powers or capabilities or knowledge, or

to give an act of worship to anything in this creation, is what we call shirk. Or, to elevate something in this creation to be equal with God, or to describe God with the deficiencies and the shortcomings of the creation. In other words, to confuse the creator with his creation is considered to be the worst sin, as far as God is concerned. There is nothing worse than that.

The Quran tells us:

Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. (Quran 4:48)

A person who meets God on the Day of Judgment and has not abandoned or repented from shirk, then God will never forgive them. He will never forgive them. This is considered to be, therefore, the one sin that God will forgive anything that He wishes, but He will not forgive shirk.

The Right of God

Because this is the right of God. We talk often about human rights. Animal rights. Human rights. Even rights of the environment. But this is the right of God. The right of God is that we should not confuse God with His creation. Because God is transcendent. God is far removed from all imperfections. The creation is limited, finite, needy. God is unlimited, infinite, self-sufficient.

So, this is the key concept: to conceptualize the greatness of God. And it's something Muslims say a lot. You often hear them say, Allahu Akbar. You ever hear the call to prayer? You hear them saying in the call to prayer:

اللهُ أَكْبَرٍ

Allahu Akbar. Sometimes you find Muslims saying, Allahu Akbar! Like that. And that means, it means literally, God is greater. Or Allah is greater. It's like an unfinished thing. Greater than what? God is greater than anything. Whatever you can imagine, God is greater than that.

The Vastness of God's Creation

This saying of the Prophet Muhammad, for me, allows us really to conceptualize it. He said that this universe is like a ring thrown in the desert compared to the Kursi. Now, the Kursi could be translated as the pedestal. And the Kursi is like a ring thrown in the desert compared to the Arsh, meaning the throne of God.

Just think about that. A ring in the desert. Our universe, 10 billion light years across. We human beings are a speck on an earth that is a speck in a universe that is in fact itself like a ring in the desert compared to the Kursi.

So, how about God? And then we can surely conceptualize: equating the creator, the one who is beyond and above the Arsh—we can't imagine what God is like—equating God with his creation is a grave insult to God.

God as the Lawmaker

And so, this is, in a sense, the primary key concept. And to link the two things that we've been talking about so far: one of the unique qualities of God, one of the names of God, is Al-Shari. Al-Shari means that God is the lawmaker. Therefore, we believe that it is in fact God's knowledge and God's right, only, exclusively, to determine for human beings what is right and what is wrong and what is good and what is evil.

In other words, for another human being to come along and say, oh, this thing that God said is good is bad and this thing that God said is bad is good is in fact a person who is making himself equal with God. It's as if they are equating themselves with God. And that is one of the exclusive attributes and qualities of God:

You alone do we worship, and You alone we ask for help. (Quran 1:5)

So we pray and supplicate only to God.

Direct Access to God

Now, some people say, for example, well, you know, if you want to visit the king, you can't just go and talk to the king. You want to go and see Tony Blair, you can't just go up and talk to him. You have to go through his secretary and his secretary's secretary and his secretary's secretary's secretary. You have to find someone who's close to Tony Blair to get to him or the queen or whoever. Isn't God like that? So if you want to get to God, you need to pray to His holy people and go to the people who are close to Him. This is how they justify idol worship.

But of course, this, from its very beginning, is equating God with His creation. The reason why Tony Blair or the queen or whoever has secretaries is because they are human beings. They have 24 hours in a day. They can't possibly listen to the complaint of every single person. Even if all of us in this room wanted to complain about everything we had a complaint about, he wouldn't have time in his day or she wouldn't have time in her day to deal with it. That's why they need filters.

And also, imagine, we all started—imagine this important person was in the room. We've all started asking a question all at the same time. It'd be like, excuse me, excuse me, one at a time. You can only hear one person talking at a time. That's the limit of the human being.

But God, however, Allah can hear every person in every place and in every time. And that does not confuse God in the least. Now think about it. Some people pray to saints. And they say, well, these saints are holy people. They can hear our prayers and they can take them up to God.

But let's just imagine, for example, that 1,000 people are praying to this saint all in one go, all at the same time. Are you telling me that this saint has the power to listen to 1,000 or 100,000 people calling upon him all at the

Islamic Monotheism (Tawhid)

So this is the very important key concept: Islamic monotheism. It's called in Arabic tawhid. So now we've covered two key principles: Tawhid, the oneness of God, and Risalah, the concept of prophethood.

The Concept of the Afterlife (Akhirah)

The final key concept that Islam is all based upon is akhirah, which means life after death. I've already hinted at this, but it is very, very, very important. It is something that really shapes the way Muslims look at life, look at the world.

What do we believe? Muslims believe that when this universe as we know it has finished, when the universe is destroyed, that Allah or God will recreate a new heavens and a new earth. When God has recreated that new heavens and new earth, God, Allah, will recreate us physically, not just spiritually, but recreate us physically. And God will assemble all of us in one place at one time.

This place and time is called Yawm al-Qiyamah. Yawm in Arabic means day. Al-Qiyamah means standing. So it is the Day of Standing. But it is a day like 50,000 years. That is the Day of Judgment. It is a day like 50,000 years. And God will ask us about every single thing that we have done.

Events of the Day of Judgment

There are many events that have been described in the Quran and by the Prophet Muhammad about what is going to take place on the Day of Judgment. But two key things that I want to mention.

Number one is recompense. This is the first thing. It is that human beings will have to pay for the evil they have done to other human beings and in fact even to other creatures. The Prophet Muhammad mentioned that even birds—even a bird that was killed, if someone killed a bird for target practice, they will have to account for that on the Day of Judgment.

As for human beings, we will have to account. But what do we have? We won't have any money. We won't have any wealth. We won't have countries and armies and weapons to protect us. What is it that we are going to have to exchange on the Day of Judgment? It is deeds.

So, if I have abused someone or if I have stolen from someone or I have done some evil or backbitten someone or anything to another human being, I will have to pay them from my good deeds. If I don't have any good deeds left, I will have to take their sins. This is the recompense. The exchanging of the deeds.

Paradise and Hellfire

Once that has taken place, then Allah will weigh the deeds. Allah will weigh the deeds in scales. So, whoever's scale of deeds is heavy with good will go to Jannah. Jannah literally means the garden. Paradise. It is a place of physical pleasure and happiness. But it is also a place of mental and spiritual pleasure and happiness.

The Quran is full of descriptions of the gardens and the rivers and the trees of paradise but also the peace and the tranquility, that there will be no envy, jealousy or hatred, greed. So, this is paradise. And it is eternal. They will dwell therein forever.

And whoever's scale of deeds is heavy with evil will go to hellfire. It is a physical place where people will suffer. And they will suffer physically, mentally and spiritually. So, the Quran describes the fire of hell, the heat of the fire of hell, the roasting of people's skins, their drinking of boiling water that will melt their faces and boil their insides. And also their despair and their despondency and their arguing and their bickering.

The Reality of the Afterlife

One thing, of course, that is noted, what we should note, is that the Quran describes these places in very real physical terms. But, of course, they're not—it is different from our life. We can't live in a fire. In this life we can't live in a fire. But in the next life we can. You can't eat—if you've made a tree, there's no such thing as a tree with trunks of gold and yet you can eat a fruit from it. But that's how it's going to be in paradise.

So, how we could understand it like a metaphor. It's real. But it is, in a sense, beyond our understanding. The example I give is this: Imagine you were trying to explain to a baby in the womb of its mother about this world. Imagine it could understand some language or something. And you were trying to describe to that baby—and I mean here that we know that babies in the womb can react. They react to sound. They have a perception of light. So they do have some perception of something that is outside. But like the paradise and the hellfire and the life to come, it's extremely limited. So it is like that.

How the Afterlife Shapes Our Worldview

Now, I mentioned something important: that the Day of Judgment is a day of 50,000 years. This, therefore, we have to understand, really shapes the way a Muslim looks at this world. Because what is important here is not just about a life to come, but how does it impact on our attitude to this life. And therefore, of course, for the true believer, for the Muslim, this life is a moment. It's a passing moment.

The Prophet Muhammad said, "What do I have to do with the life of this world? I'm like a traveler on a long journey who took rest underneath the shade of a tree and then continued on his journey." This is our life. We

have this moment. But it is this moment that actually determines our eternity. What we do here determines what is going to happen to us in the life to come.

The Purpose of This Life

So therefore, the next life really is the explanation of what this life is about. What is this life about? This life is about the next life. And this, as the Prophet Muhammad said, he gave that beautiful description. I'm like a traveler underneath the shade of a tree. It's not telling us that life is about chilling out, just, you know, sitting on the grass. That's not what it means.

It means that a traveler is doing what? You're on a long journey. Imagine you're on a long journey. If you just keep on riding, keep on riding, going for weeks and weeks, there is going to come a time when you can't stay on your horse anymore or your camel anymore. You're going to fall off. And more or less, you'll probably die. You need the rest, because you need the rest to get you to your destination.

But you take what you need. You don't spend all your time there. You rest, you take what you need, because that's not your destination. That's just the zahad, the provision. Zahad al-ma'ad. So this is what we're taking. What we need from this life is the provision for our journey to the afterlife. And the provision is good deeds. The provision is good deeds. To do as much good as possible and to keep away from evil as much as possible. That's what the life is about. That's what the purpose of life is.

Good Deeds: Worship and Human Interaction

Now, some of those good deeds are to do with worshipping Allah. Many of those good deeds are to do with how we treat other human beings. So therefore, really, this is really the purpose of life. A Muslim really thinks—you say, how does a Muslim think? I don't think about, hey, wait a minute, you know, if I take this, can I get away with it? Can someone catch me?

Really think about it. For many people, what is it for them that decides whether they should do this or not? What's their morality based upon? Most people. I've thought about it a lot, and I reckon that most people's morality is based upon two things: Pragmatism and the opinion of people. What is the opinion of other people about that thing? Those are the two things that matter. What does everyone else say?

The Question of Defining Good

And this is very important. Because I know people will say, yeah, but you know, what about a person who does good all their life? So I'm answering the question before you're going to ask it. But I want you to think about, well, what is good? It goes back to where we started. What is good? Who defines good? It's a very, very important question, and to illustrate it, I'd like to give an extreme example.

If you were living in Nazi Germany, would the best German be a person who is most energetic and enthusiastic in putting Jews and Gypsies and Blacks into concentration camps? Could he be considered a good German? A

good Serb, in the days when there was a war between the different factions of what was former Yugoslavia—the hero, Slobodan Milošević, who died recently, I saw a picture of him painted as an angel. This is a man who committed the most atrocious war crimes.

I had friends who came back from Bosnia who described to me the most atrocious things, you can't even imagine. Imagine seeing your family, your women, raped in front of you. Imagine your child, little baby, being barbecued and you being forced to eat it. These were the things they were doing. And this man, Slobodan Milošević, was painted as an angel. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people turned up to his funeral. He was considered good. He defined good.

God Defines Good and Evil

This is what is really important. And it comes back to what I was talking about. For Muslims, good is what God defines as good. It's not a flexible, changeable morality that changes from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute, according to what's pragmatic or according to what people think. It is determined by our creator. That is what God is going to judge us upon.

Conclusion: The Three Key Concepts

So, these are really the three key concepts. These are the three things that Islam is really, really—of course, there are so many other things we could talk about, about what Islam is about, details and so on and so forth. But what, like I said, what I was really hoping to do was give you an insight into, maybe you could say, the philosophy of Islam. What really is it all about, deeply, spiritually, mentally?

Maybe some of you who are Muslims wouldn't think about this, really. But really, ultimately, I think that's what it's all about. And thank you all very much for listening to what I have to say.