Mankind in Crisis

Mankind in Crisis

Speaker: Dr. Abu Aminah Bilal Philips

Opening (Khutbat al-Hajah)

All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, we seek His help and we seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and the evil which results from our deeds. For whomsoever Allah has guided none can misguide and whomsoever Allah has allowed to go astray none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the last messenger of Allah.

Indeed the best form of speech is the book of Allah and the best source of guidance that brought by Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And the worst of all affairs are the innovations in religion for indeed every religious innovation is a source of misguidance and all sources of misguidance ultimately lead to the hellfire.

Introduction: The Struggle of Cultures

The topic of this evening, the struggle of cultures. The clash between Islamic culture and the dominating global culture of western civilization is one which addresses on one hand the current situation. It addresses on one hand the current situation which exists in the world today which is very important for us to understand with regards to dawah, how to explain Islam to others, how to explain the contradiction that exists, the contradiction between us saying that Islam means peace and Muslims being at the center of all the major conflicts around the world.

And at the same time it addresses the position of the ummah with regards to this struggle and what is in front of that ummah which Allah praised with regards to the struggle whether there is in the future or what appears to us a good chance for success or are we on a road to failure. We have to analyze our existing circumstances understand the forces that are at play and then we have to set for ourselves a path by which we can successfully maintain Islam and convey it in the times to come.

Huntington's Analysis: The Fundamental Conflict

The beginning of this talk or the concept of cultural struggle takes the world situation back to one of culture which is related to religion but not necessarily religious, a struggle which has its relationships in religion but is not necessarily purely a religious struggle. The struggle in general has been defined for us quite succinctly by professor Samuel P. Huntington, a professor of political science leading universities in the states advisor to the presidents. He defined that struggle in his book called The Clash of Civilizations saying:

"The underlying problem for the west is not Islamic fundamentalism, it is Islam, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power. The problem for Islam, he goes on to explain, is not the CIA or the US Department of Defense, it is the west, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the universality of their culture and believe that their superior, if declining power imposes on them the obligation to impose that culture throughout the world."

These are the basic ingredients that fuel conflict between Islam and the west. Now his book goes on to develop a number of different ideas. I'm not saying necessarily I believe and accept or support everything he says in his book, but at least this statement, he has summed it up quite effectively.

That the problem that the west faces and those people who are involved in the decision making process whether it's about weapons of mass destruction or whatever these people are well aware of these issues that the problem is not Islamic fundamentalism though we can hear in the news, newspapers this being echoed, this is what is in the media.

For example, there was a statement in the New York Times which stated that Muslim fundamentalism is fast becoming the chief threat to global peace and security as well as the cause of national and local disturbance through terrorism. It is akin to the menace posed by Nazism and fascism in the 1930s and then by communism in the 50s. Actually this was written, New York Times, in 1993, 11 years ago. That was their perspective.

However, Samuel P. Huntington says this is not the problem. The problem doesn't lie in fundamentalism. I mean that may be an element that the west has to deal with but the fundamental problem is with Islam itself, a civilization that has its own cultural outlook, a world outlook which is fundamentally in conflict with the western world outlook.

The Quranic Reality: Persecution for Belief

And I'm not necessarily one who is calling for world wars, Armageddon and all these other things, but I'm just saying that there are some elements here that we have to be aware of. And when Allah said regarding the people who were burnt in the trench in Surah Al-Buruj:

"And they resented them not except for their belief in Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy."

Because of their belief. But ultimately when it comes to Muslims what is happening to them internationally relates back to their belief system and their belief system is not a changeable belief system, not one which may be modified.

So though for example from the western perspective they like to deal with moderate Muslims, liberal Muslims, and a moderate and a liberal Muslim is one who may take a drink once in a while, pork is not a big thing but he's a Muslim or she's a Muslim, they pray sometimes. But any kind of a Muslim who says well no I have to pray five times a day, he's a fanatic. I don't shake the hands of women, he's extremist. I don't drink alcohol, he is intolerant. All these types of epithets that we find put on a person who just wants to practice basic Islam.

Judaism has gone the way of liberal reform Jews etc but Islam has never tolerated that. Though people we've had movements from the early part of the 20th century which tried to develop a kind of reformist approach in Egypt, Turkey, elsewhere. The reformist approach to Islam, make Islam modern, make it fit in with modern times, fit in with western civilization. But this has never succeeded and the reason why it has never succeeded, Huntington is pointing out, is because of the fact that Muslims in spite of whatever they have experienced historically in the world do have in their psyche a sense that Islam is superior. Allahu Akbar, it's there in our Adhan everyday. Allahu Akbar, we keep hearing it time and time. Islam is superior, Allahu Akbar.

And that can't be taken out of the psyche of Muslims. So no matter how long we find Muslims subjugated, look at Chechnya and what happened to the Chechnyans, how their country was absorbed into the Russian Empire, their people sent to Siberia, half their population died in transporting them across Russia into Siberia, yet they came back and are a major thorn in the side of Russia today and they're calling for Islam establishing Islam after all those years of communist indoctrination, communist rule etc. That is the resiliency that Islam has because of that fundamental concept that Islam is in fact the truth, it is in fact greater and better than anything else.

So it's a sense of superiority and this is what we hear in the west when they're talking about modifying the textbooks in Muslim schools whether in Pakistan or in Saudi Arabia or in Egypt. These textbooks need to be modified so that people are not feeling that they are superior, that their religion is superior to all of the other religions. They should take the modern world religions approach as world religions is being taught as a subject for example in schools. The basic approach is to show all of the religions teach good so therefore one should not feel any kind of special thing about his or her own religion. To do that is to be intolerant, to be bigoted. They have a variety of different names for one who says well no my religion is the best.

We should see all the religions and accept all but that's not what Islam says. What Allah says is:

"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him or her. There is only one way, there is only one religion. That is a fundamental principle which no matter what the west tries to do it cannot change that. You can't change the Quran. Yeah you might change some Muslims, you might change their governments, might interfere with their educational systems etc but you can't change the Quran. 1400 years have passed and the Quran remains the same. It is not going to be changed so it is something which is beyond their reach.

The Western Problem: Secular Democracy

It is beyond their reach with regards to Muslims looking from the other side. We said that the west for Muslims, sorry though the CIA the Department of Defense of course this is talking about the American military, you know Iraq is right in front of us, Afghanistan was before that, you know etc that this is not the big problem. This is a problem no doubt. Muslim oil is something which is valued, highly valued and people will try to find all kinds of excuses to get at it but this is not the essential problem.

The essential problem lies within western civilization itself and its outlook, its world outlook and its world outlook is summed up in two principles: secular democracy. And this is what you hear being said time and time again. You know whenever leaders from the west are speaking you hear them echoing this thing of our way of life, our democracy, that you know these countries are opposed, they hate, they are jealous of us or whatever about our democracy, the great democracy of the west. This is what is continually repeated and their attitude that it is superior to all other, it is universal, all societies are supposed to come there. This is their point of view, all societies should be democratic and secular.

Ultimately where did they get that from? What is the source of that arrogance? What is the evidence that they teach in schools, in universities, in their institutions? You hear echoed time and time again what is the basis for that? Tell me, tell me, I'm asking you.

Mental reasoning. Well no doubt they do some mental reasoning but there is something at the bottom of it which was the seed of which was laid by an individual from the UK who traveled on a ship called the Beagle. What's his name? Darwin. Yes, this is what's at the bottom of it. Darwin, Darwinian theory, survival of the fittest. You know this is what's at the bottom of it.

Because when they look at the world situation with western civilization at the top of a pyramid, the world is like a pyramid, you have the first world up at the top of the pyramid and the third world down the bottom. No second world, just a first and then there is a third, big third right. That's first world, it's at the top. Why? Why are they at the top of the pyramid? Why are they ruling the world? And their technology and everything else. Because of survival of the fittest. They are there because they are the fittest. This is what they are saying right.

This is the Darwinian theory. They are there because they are the fittest and naturally the fittest must have the fittest systems.

If you have the fittest society, you logically, this mental reasoning coming in, your systems must also be the fittest. If you've worked your way up to that, you know before you were feudal, you went through you know various different stages and you finally arrived at secular democracy and you are at the top, then that must be where everybody else is going, is headed whether they know it or not. So you feel it is your duty to impose this on everybody else. Your whole political strategy, your dealing with nations etc will always be around this principle: secular democracy.

Secular more so than democracy. Democracy is an additional, you know cream, we call the icing on the cake but the cake is really secularism. And so you see in the dealings with different Muslim countries wherever that Muslim country remains secular, even though they may actually be you know military dictatorships or whatever else, as long as they remain secular they are fine. The West, no matter how they got there, no matter how they maintain themselves, they are fine in the eyes of the West. Secularism.

That is again removing religion from politics, from the system of the society, remove it, it should not interfere with schools. France, the hijab, what is all that about? The hijab and in Italy it is coming in Germany and it is coming, there is a snowball rolling down the hill getting bigger, it is coming. Issues of secularism, are we a secular society or are we not? Secular society means that you are not allowed to express and to promote your religious belief system in government dominated areas.

Privately you want to be what you want to be in your home, in your mosque or your temple or whatever, no problem. As in America if you want to worship the devil, no problem either. We will even recognize you as a religion. The American armed forces recognizes devil worship, the church of Satan as a legitimate religion and they have their chaplains and everything. So then because it is all the same to them, the secular point of view is religion is all the same. People made it up whether it is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Satanism, Buddhism, whatever, it is all made up so why give favors to one over another? That is the secularist but it is supposed to be also a tolerant, neutral, you know point of view. We treat you all the same, this is how it is presented.

So the point here is that western society promotes the idea of secular democracy as the answer for the woes of civilization. This is the answer. If everybody becomes secular then we become tolerant and we can end all these wars and all these kind of things. And as I said they are driven by the Darwinian concept that their civilization is most superior because the systems that they have evolved are most superior. That is why they are there. So it is their duty to impose it on the rest of the world and you hear that being said in the speeches of the leadership now.

The Muslim Position: Complete Surrender to Allah

As Muslims where do we stand in front of all of this? One, we should be clear that any system which calls to

secularism is in direct opposition to Islam. Direct opposition. There is no middle ground. You know life of course is not black and white, we say in general, in general there are grey areas in between, there are places of compromising in most things in life but there are some things where there is no in between. One of those is this idea.

Either life is as Allah describes it in the Quran:

"Indeed, my prayers, my sacrifices, my living and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of all the worlds."

That is the motto of the Muslim, his or her life in its totality is dedicated to Allah. It is completely religious. It is not secular. There is no secular aspect of a Muslim's life.

Now some modernist Muslims if we can use that term might say well no there is, you know education and all these other things can be secular but you know I go to the mosque, I go to Hajj, I fast in Ramadan and that's my religious side but of course this is something new that we have people speaking in this way. This is not in keeping with the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah at all.

Islam teaches that every aspect of life is governed by the teachings of God. Worship, the simplest definition of worship is that whatever we do is pleasing to God. Whatever is done which is pleasing to God, that is worship. Whether it is actual Salah or it is setting up a halal butcher shop, you are making money but in doing so to provide alternative for Muslims etc, this is Ibadah. It becomes a point of Ibadah, a form of Ibadah. So it governs all aspects of life.

So it means that if as Muslims our life is completely governed by Islam, any system which says you should take Islam out of a major area of your life and restrict it only to worship in the mosque etc etc then obviously that system is in direct conflict with Islam. There is no meeting point. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be at war with them. We don't necessarily have to choose to go to war about it but we should be clear that this is a proposition which is unacceptable Islamically. We cannot accept it.

Democracy: Rule of the People vs. Rule of Allah

As for democracy which is commonly promoted, we should understand that though we have Muslims today talking about Islamic democracies, it's not possible. What democracy actually means unless you are twisting the meaning of democracy to mean something else, democracy means the rule of the people. That's what it basically means, rule of the people.

It was proposed by who? Who proposed democracy first in history? The Greeks in Athens right. This is before the time of Christ. The Greeks had proposed this democracy, rule of the people, you know Greek thinkers, the philosophers, you know all their reflections etc, they came to the idea that yes people should decide, we shouldn't have just an individual who's making all the decisions, it should be decided by the people of the society. Sounds beautiful.

But did it work in Athens? Is that what happened in Athens? The rule of the people. Well they did have a rule taking place, they had votes, decisions were made but if we look at Greek society, the demographics of Greek society, the majority of Greeks or people in Greek society were slaves. Majority of the society were slaves. Slaves had no vote. So that is 55% of your society, 60%, no vote. So when we're talking about rule of the people we're obviously not talking about the majority of the people.

After that you have the society divided between men and women. Women being of course again more than men and women didn't have a vote. So where did we end up? 15% of the society, the free males making the decision for the whole society. That was democracy in practice thousands of years ago.

Revived after the renaissance in Europe in modern times, it's now been revived with Darwinism dominating society, secularism coming in, it became the means for the society to decide on right and wrong. Because of course in your society if you say religion is taken out, we have laws which determine right and wrong and we take away religion, now all of these laws when you look at western laws you will see at the bottom of them the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament, from the books of Moses, the Torah, the Ten Commandments were at the base of it.

What happened when they became, they decided to become secular? Then all of these commandments became challenged. Of course the first commandment, the Lord your God is one God, it's gone, long time. With Christianity it went but other issues of that system were systematically changed. Issues like for example adultery, fornication which were sins according to Mosaic law, these were decriminalized. They are not a crime anymore, taken out because the basis of it was the Bible and we are not religious. We have to find other principles to determine how males and females should relate in society.

So they came up with an alternative principle which they called what? What is the principle which they used to determine what is acceptable relationships between males and females and what is not? Not quite, not equal rights. Consent is one, what else? Two words, two phrases. Consenting adults. That's the phrase, consenting adults.

Meaning whatever consenting adults do amongst themselves the government has no right to interfere, has no right to come in and say you shouldn't do, you shouldn't do, no, none of your business, as long as they are consenting adults. Because the issue of consent, that was to rule out what? Rape. It rules out rape because there is no consent there. And what does adults rule out? Pedophilia. Ok that's the idea, to rule those out, rape and pedophilia.

Pedophilia meaning adults having sexual relations with kids because they said they are not mature enough, their minds are not mature enough to know right and wrong so they are being taken advantage of by the adults. So after that you are free to do whatever you want to do and of course what comes along with that is what? Homosexuals. Consenting adults. That was the door which opened it for homosexuals.

Once that became your principle, of course when you first made the principle you meant between heterosexuals, males and females, but when the homosexuals brought their case you couldn't stand against them in the court of law because you said consenting adults. So if it's two males or two females who is to say no? They are consenting and they are adults and so it's coming, the marriages, you know you hear that struggling going on in the background there, same sex marriages, it's coming, it will be here, full blast, you know give it a few more years and you will be living it. You know already in Canada we have it, it's coming in places in the states, it's in Belgium, in Europe it's coming, that ball it's picking up momentum.

And know that not only will it be external meaning in the society it recognizes it, it won't become strange anymore but know that your children in school are going to be taught it. They are going to teach it to the children in primary school. We already have that in America and Canada, it's there they teach them, one of the popular books is my two dads right, for grade one kids when they are teaching them about you know about family life. One of the popular books is my two dads you know, Tom, he has a dad and a mom, but Jim has two dads and Jim's two dads are very nice people, they take Jim out to do this and to do that and he has a good time and he is presented very nice you know and so they are subtly brainwashing a generation. It's going to come up and it's coming here, it's going to come up where homosexuality is completely normal, completely normal.

So that is the consequence of what? Secular democracy. Because how did they get there? They said it was through the democratic way. We are judging right and wrong by the majority right. This is one of the essential principles of democracy.

The Principles of Democracy

Democracy is built upon a few principles, not just one. The basic principle is equality they say which is nice and Islam is not opposed to that equality. The second principle is what they call rational empiricism, meaning that thinking, mental thinking, we can work it out with our minds you know, we have this intellect, we are able to arrive at what is good for us through our own reasoning. And the third principle is called discussion and consent where we sit down around a table, we vote and those that win the vote, they are the people who make or decide what is right and what is wrong. The majority decides.

The idea of majority deciding is not a bad idea in and of itself but when you start to deal with the fundamental principles of the society then you have something very dangerous. So if we go back to the issue of human ability, intellect, able to arrive at right and wrong, a clear example and I'm sure you can find it in the Magna Carta and other documents of societies here in Europe, in the American constitution, written in 1787, written by

the most enlightened minds of the 18th century, founders, the founding fathers of America breaking away from the domination of the British rule, the crown, they wrote in article 1 section 2 which is called the three-fifths compromise, the three-fifths compromise, they wrote there that black men would be considered or counted as three-fifths of a white man.

This is the American constitution, that black men, non-whites would be considered as three-fifths of a white man. This was what they worked out to deal with voting and slaves because they said, ok, look people who are discussing this matter, these are all white men, obviously there's no black men involved in that. So all the white men, when they sat around they were discussing this thing well, we know that some of us have slaves and some of us don't, you have a hundred slaves I have two, should my vote be the same as yours? This is where the rationale came in.

So in order to give value to the person who had more slaves they had to give some value to the slaves. This was a mathematical principle working out to give, this is how they worked it out, so the one who had more slaves, his vote had more value than the one who had less. So they came up with this formula, exactly why three-fifths I don't know why it wasn't four-fifths or two-fifths, but that's what they came up with and that, as I said, was the enlightened minds of the 18th century and that is the nature of man-made systems, isn't it?

The Nature of Human Systems vs. Divine Systems

When you talk to a Hindu and you're trying to explain Islam to a Hindu and he says to you, well, you know your religion is so rigid, our religion is open, we can accept new ideas, we can change with the times and you know, we can improve our situation and so and so, you should argue with him, Hinduism, because of course you try to pin a Hindu down and say listen, your religion says that if a man dies, his wife should climb on the funeral pyre and get burnt up with him, sati yeah and this is the attitude towards women isn't it? The woman has no value, if her husband dies, she has no value, zero, better for her to climb on the pyre, when they burn the body, cremate him, and be cremated along with the husband.

Say, but we don't have that anymore, stop, we stop that, you know so you see, our religion is progressive you know, before they used to have what they called devadasas, in the temples, they had what you could call really, temple prostitutes, who people going to worship at the temple, would have access to paying money to benefit the temple. Well, this was stopped also within the last century, so we cut that stuff out, you know we are more modern today.

So they feel that that is a sign of progress and flexibility of religion and all this kind of things, whereas us Muslims rigid, same principles you had 1400 years ago, you want to try to apply it today. But the reality is that, yes if it's from God it's not supposed to be changing. If sati was good, if it was from God, it shouldn't be good then, and not good anymore right, this is not religion, as people change in their attitudes, the religion changes along with them, this is not religion of God, this is the religion of men, of human beings.

That is the nature of that religion, they always have to change it, because whenever they make up something, a human being makes up something, there's always something wrong with it. We as human beings cannot make the perfect system so we'll always have to make changes. That is necessity and that is human religion, human system, etc. The divine system is unchangeable, and that's what's in the conflict, isn't it?

So we have secular democracy on one hand which says we have to change, get religion out of the picture, etc, and then you have on the other hand religion which says it must govern all walks of life, it is unchangeable, etc, then you have two uncompromising principles. There's no middle ground between the two. If Islam changes any, or Muslims change any of their principles to suit western global culture, they are in fact abandoning aspects of Islam. It's no longer Islam anymore. So this is at the crux of the struggle.

The Muslim Reality: Dominated by Western Culture

But now, if we look at our situation today as Muslims where do we stand with regards to all of this? Reality is that theoretically this struggle exists. It exists because the Quran is unchanged, because the sunnah has been preserved, and because Muslim scholarship remains looking after, care taking this body of knowledge. But in the society we have to say that we have been dominated, western civilization now dominates most of the Muslim world. It's culture has become our culture, it's values have become the values of Muslims in many cases, many circumstances.

So why is that? Why have they succeeded in doing that, in spite of the fact that Islam remains accessible in its purity? Because of the fact that Muslims as a whole have left Islam. This is the bottom line. Our biggest problem, our biggest problem is not winning the war in Iraq or getting back Palestine or freeing, liberating Chechnya or taking back Kashmir. This is not our biggest problem. Our biggest problem is getting back to Islam because in all of these different areas if you listen to the state of Muslims it is pathetic.

Muslims today are dominated in their own societies by the cultural traditions which they have inherited from the previous generations which have nothing to do with Islam. So, we find for example so many things that are attributed to Muslims which we know, or we might not know, have nothing to do with Islam. Whether it is honor killing, you know, popular in Jordan, Pakistan and other countries where if a girl is suspected of anything out of the ordinary with regards to males the family males feel it's a duty, one of them has to take her out, kill her for the honor of the family, to preserve the honor of the family.

And in Pakistan, in Jordan, if you do that the force of the law will not come on you, maybe you get a year, 8 months, yeah, you shouldn't really have done it but we understand. No, is that Sharia? Does Sharia understand? No, there is no understanding here, it's murder.

Female genital mutilation, popular in Egypt, Sudan, some parts of Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, attributed to Muslims, cutting up the private parts of their women. Is that from Islam? Is what Islam calls it? Or a variety of other acts, a variety of other acts which the media focuses on to paint the worst images of Muslims. These are

The Prophetic Solution: Return to Islam

As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said in a well known hadith which sums up our situation today: if you begin to trade in interest calling it by other names and you are clutching on to the tails of cows and you are enamored by cultivation, in other words the dunya, the prize things of the dunya, this is your obsession, you are obsessed with the dunya, and you have abandoned jihad for the sake of Allah, you are doing other things, you might call it jihad but it's not for the sake of Allah, it's for other purposes, you want to set up a secular Islamic democratic state or whatever, it's not about establishing Allah's word, your jihad is for something else, personal, not following the principles of the sharia, the way of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), etc.

Allah will put over you humiliation, he'll put it on top of you and he will not remove it until you return to your religion. That is the bottom line. Until we return to Islam. The humiliation, the degradation that Muslims face throughout the world today will not change. We will not be able to change that situation militarily or economically. The only way is Islamically. For us to know what Islam is, clean it up, clean up Muslim practices, get it back to Islam, and that then becomes a basis for the unification of the ummah.

The Path Forward: Unity Based on Faith

Because we are supposed to be one ummah. This is what Allah describes us as, ummatan wahida. One ummah. How can we become one ummah when we have all this cultural baggage? Where we cannot marry our daughters to somebody else because they don't belong to the same nation, the same tribe, or even the same caste. We actually have castes. We are in different parts of the Muslim world. We have castes. People are actually talking about that. Sayyid, Chowdhury, different names like this are used. Castes. If you are not one of these then you can't marry anyone. Clans, tribes, all this.

How can we be one ummah with all of these things dividing us on such a basic level? So the only solution is for us to go back to the deen. It is a process of education, knowing Islam. And this is where our focus should be.

When we look at our situation here in the UK, our focus should be on the education of the generation that we are raising here in this country. That we educate them properly Islamically. They will have academic tools to deal with their life in this part of the world. And at the same time have a consciousness of Islam. Be aware of their duty in life. That there is a mission and a purpose to life. And not just acquiring as much material benefits

as we can. Because in materialism there is ultimately no success. What we seek from this world cannot be achieved from materialism.

So we educate our children accordingly. And we have to educate ourselves about Islam. To break the barriers that exist amongst us. Where we can't function as that real ummah. When we gather, we gather as Somalis, or Egyptians, or Syrians, or Lebanese, or Pakistanis. We don't gather as Muslim brothers, or Muslim sisters. We are dominated by these tribal influences. We have to make a step ourselves, as adults, raising our children here. We have to show them the example of coming together on the basis of Iman.

Be with the believers. Invite, whenever you invite. Of course there is a tendency to want to invite family people who speak the same language as you. But make sure, every time you have a gathering, every time you invite people, invite some people from the other groups. From the other people. So those people who normally just come together based on tribal languages and these type of things, nationalities. They see somebody else there and if they see them enough times and they get used to it, then maybe they will start to do that also. But we have to start. We have to make a start ourselves.

Focus on What We Can Change

There are big problems in the world. As we said, Iraq. Can you change Iraq? All the talking, all the reading, all the writing, all the different things you can do. Can you change that situation? No. Can you change the situation in your gathering? Invite some people who are not from your tribal background? Yes.

So hey, what is Allah going to ask you about on the Day of Judgment? Iraq? Or how you gathered? He is going to ask you about how you gathered. Whether you reinforce the tribalism, the nationalism, which is part of what splits the ummah, or whether you try to make a change. Each and every one of us has something we can contribute. And that is what we need to focus on.

And with that collective effort, then we can bring about a collective change. That's the basic message I would like to share with you this evening.

Questions and Answers

Question 1: Living in Non-Muslim Countries and Cooperating with Secular Laws

Question: How should a Muslim living in a non-Muslim country go about cooperating with the secular laws such as that of Britain and insurance and mortgage?

Answer: Well, you try to avoid any of the secular laws which go against Islamic teachings. That is your responsibility. What you are unable to get around, they require certain things like insurance for cars and things

like this to be able to use it. You need to use these particular items. Then you do it to the minimum of what is required. You know, you do the minimum of whatever is required.

And, you know, you should think in terms of developing alternative institutions where you can have what may be called Islamic insurance. So you can provide a service to the Muslim community with regards to insuring different properties and things like this. You know, because there are Islamic systems that can be put in place which can handle the concept of insurance. Not as it's done in the West, but from an Islamic perspective. There is a way to deal with it. You know, what they call a takaful al-ijtima'i, so and so, like this.

So we should, on one hand, try to minimize what we are doing. Dealing with the system where we are doing things which are against Islamic teachings. Secondly, we have to try to find alternatives. Thirdly, we have to try to live together. To live in areas where we can support each other. Where our finances circulate amongst ourselves as much as possible. It's very important.

Like, for example, East London, you know, where they have built a huge sentinel that can have so many different people. Actually, those of you that are living in areas by yourself, you know, all your neighbors are non-Muslims and all this kind of thing. This is the area that you are living. You should seriously think to move to such areas. You know, sure, you might take a loss or whatever selling your house, buying over there, whatever. But that loss, know that it is better for you.

The Obligation of Hijrah

You are fulfilling the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) obligation that he's put on us for hijrah. Muslims are supposed to live together. Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

(Unknown)

"I am innocent of anyone who lives amongst the disbelievers."

So to live in a situation where all the people around you are non-Muslims, this is haram for a Muslim to live in that circumstance. You should try at least to live in an area where there is a majority Muslims. I'm not saying you necessarily have to pack bags and leave the country. I'm saying in England itself, there are areas like where there's a masjid, so you'll have your moving, where you can benefit Islamically, your family can benefit Islamically, etc. So you move for the sake of Allah into such areas. You should seriously think about that.

Because living on your own, scattered, this is not the way. And when crises happens, like Bigley was just slaughtered on the television a day ago. If that happens enough times, it hits enough of a nerve here in this country, then they're gonna come at you. And the people who are going to suffer the most will be women and children. They're the ones who get hurt the most. Men will get hurt too, but women and children because they're the weaker element of the society.

And these kind of individuals, they try to take it out on the weaker elements who they can get away with it. And of course, you leave your family, you're going off to work, and you leave your family, all your neighbors back front are all non-Muslims. Somebody attacks your wife or attacks your child. Are these people gonna come to help you? No. I mean they may, Allah knows, but they're not driven.

At least if it's in a Muslim community, they'll be shy to do those kind of things. And if it happens, there will be people who come out to try to help. They will not leave you stranded. So it is very important that we consider that point also.

Because if Muslims are living together, then the development of institutions like what we talked about, whether it is banking, whether it is insurance, whether it is shops selling goods, etc. This is feasible in a Muslim community. But where you have to set up your shop? In an area where most of the shops are non-Muslim shops, then what happens? You are forced. You find yourself forced.

You know, I think I have to sell cigarettes. Because most of the people come into the stores, they wanna buy cigarettes. If I don't have cigarettes in the store, they're not gonna come. No, I believe it's haram. But I need to... Or you set up a restaurant. I need to have the license. I need to be able to sell alcohol in here. This is because we're trying to do it on our own.

But you put that restaurant, you put that business in the Muslim community, Inshallah, Muslims are gonna come to you. If you provide them with a good product, of course. It doesn't mean simply because it's a Muslim business. You see, that's again, we have a problem with that too, right? We feel that Muslims have to come to me because it's a Muslim business. So you'll give them, you know, second class, third rate products. No.

As a Muslim, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

(Unknown)

"Allah loves from each and every one of you. If you do something, you do it to the best of your ability."

So you give them the best product. The best product. But we have to think in terms of that. One, we try to minimize our dealings in the non-Muslim society which are un-Islamic. Two, we need to develop alternative institutions. Three, we need to make hijrah. We need to live together for the sake of Allah. Not because we're Bengalis. Right? Or Pakistanis or Somalis or whatever. We need to live together for the sake of Allah. For the deen of Allah.

Question 2: Best Way of Educating Children in Islam

Question: What is the best way of educating children in Islam? Full-time Islamic madrasas or full-time secular schools and part-time school? Especially if the parent can't afford the fee.

Answer: Well, I don't know what the laws are like in this country. But the alternative, because we've got here two alternatives. Either Islamic school which has high fees. Or a secular school and we try to teach them on the weekend or after school.

I would say the secular school option is an evil option. It's not a good option. To put our children in secular schools, especially on the primary, secondary level. This is an evil option. Because the impact of this society and its corrupted values will be the greatest on those growing children. One thing at university level, it's bad enough. But at primary level, secondary level where the children are very vulnerable. To put our children to be taught by non-Muslims is, we call it Islamic suicide. That's what it is.

We're doing suicide with our Islam. So it's really not an alternative. I would say for that parent, homeschool the child. Better you homeschool the child than to put them in the non-Muslim school on the primary level. Better you do that. And it's possible. Of course it requires effort and it's better to cooperate with other sisters. Get a group of you together to do it, to share it, etc. But it can be done.

And the people doing it. I know I already just recently one family just came to where I am in Qatar. From the UK. This brother, brother Hanif. He came, he has two daughters who is himself and his wife were teachers here in the system here. He has two daughters. But they were homeschooled. They did their studies at home. Without putting them into the system. They've moved there now alhamdulillah and they're continuing it and finishing it off there. But it is something which people need to look at as an alternative.

And of course again, where we have the Muslim community, where people are moving together, then the possibility of setting up institutions becomes a lot easier. You don't necessarily need all of the kind of monies to set up a full-time school. It can be done on a much lower scale. So, I would say the best way, best way is a full-time Islamic school.

I won't use the term madrasa because madrasa is, people understand you're only teaching Islamics. Islamic subjects. But if by madrasa you mean the child is also taught the other subjects that they're able to function in the society after graduating, then yes, that's what is needed. Muslims should be taught by Muslims, should be studying amongst Muslims in a Muslim environment. That is the right of our children on us. That is the right of our children on us.

We have a right on them, you know, that they honor us, obey us, and these other kind of things. But their right on us is that they be educated in a Muslim school, and that they be raised in a Muslim home, and that they live in a Muslim environment. That's their right on us.

Question 3: Explaining Jihad to Others

Question: Okay, if we're here in the UK, we want to portray an image which impresses people when we tell them about the greatness of Islam. What will we say concerning jihad? Is jihad only to fight with swords?

Question 4: Are Jews Controlling Secular Society?

Question: Are the Jews controlling the secular society because they control the agencies?

Answer: Not really. You know, I mean the Jews play a role. The people who control America, though typically amongst Muslims, we tend to think it's the Jews controlling America. But guess what? If we look at the top families of America, what they call the rich and the super rich. They wrote a book about this back in the 60s, called The Rich and the Super Rich. Identifying the top families that rule America and the corporations that, multinational corporations. Not one single one of them is Jewish.

So, the Jews are under that level. They provide services. And as such, that ruling element, who is not Jewish, will do things, you know, you scratch my back, I scratch your back, you know, type of thing. So, yes, they will do things that favor them. But when they find, and if they find, that Israel is a liability, they will drop it like a hot potato. Believe. It's only because it has benefits coming back to them in a number of different ways. If it's not beneficial, believe, they're not going to hang on to it. They're not going to support it.

So, you know, we don't want to blow the Jews out of proportion. The way they become, you know, that the super Jew is in control of everything. Anything wrong happens in the world, it's the Jew who did it. It's the Jew behind everything, you know. No, no, no, please. You know, this is like people get caught up in the jinn, you know. It's the jinn causing everything, everything that's lost. The jinn's involved here, you know.

We have those who are, those who are bent on, as I said, the fundamental philosophy, you know, this secular democracy. And it's really secular. The democracy is even just a sham. Anyway, it's really secularism. These are evil individuals who are not limited to Jews or to any particular group. It is those people who have chosen the material world as their goal. And they will seek to achieve it by any means necessary.

Question 5: Those Who Don't Make Hijrah Despite Having the Means

Question: Okay, brother's question. Those people who have the means to make Hijra, whether it is to another part of Britain or another part of the city where Muslims are concentrated, or it's outside of the country to a Muslim country, a country of Muslims, right? And they don't do it. Are they in contradiction to the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?

Answer: Of course. I mean, if you feel comfortable with the idea that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is innocent of you, meaning he's saying, don't expect any help from me on the Day of Judgment. If you're caught in that state on the Day of Judgment, you know, as Allah said about those people who are caught, who die and the angels ask them what your state was. And they say, we were oppressed in the land.

And what do the angels want to say? Wasn't Allah's earth expansive and you could make Hijra in it? You know. Is that accepted as an excuse that you were weak? No. And Allah then goes on to say that such people, their end will be the hellfire. Their end will be the hellfire. This is serious.

So the concept of Hijra, though it is very far away from a lot of people's minds, and people feel it is some kind of extremist kind of point of view to go on insisting on Hijra, talking about Hijra all the time. No. It is something that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) talked about all the time. We have so many hadiths about it.

And the position of the scholars, the early generation of scholars is very clear, very known. Even the idea of Muslims leaving a Muslim land and going to a non-Muslim land is considered to be kufr. Acts of kufr. This is bad. It is evil. It is wrong. It is haram. I mean unless you are going for trade purposes, you are going on a temporary base, but to just go and say, I want to go live amongst these believers, this was inconceivable. Inconceivable.

But today, for somebody to say that sounds strange. Because unfortunately we have accepted it. The idea to come to Britain to get a part of the British pie, a piece of paradise. Britain where they pay you not to work. Alhamdulillah. Back home if you don't work you starve to death. Here they pay you to stay home, the doles. You are a backup. This is haram actually. It is haram. To come here and live on the dole is haram. This is begging. The worst form of begging. Really.

It is an evil state that Muslims now feel comfortable to come here and live on the dole. Oh brother, I can do Islamic work. If I work for the disbeliever then it affects my time. But if I live on the dole then I will be able to do Islamic work. So, the non-believer, the kafir is looking after you. Looking after your economics, you are begging him. And he is looking after you so you can do Islamic work.

What does that sound like? That the ends justify the means? Is that how we function in Islam? The ends justify the means? No. Haram means, gives us haram ends.

Closing

"Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise; I bear witness that there is no god but You; I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You."