Our Youth the Leaders of the Future

It's like minus 10. I don't know. But if you hear the statements, you get shocked.

People in authority saying things that are absolutely absurd. They haven't studied. If it is human nature that if you were to punch me, I would want to defend myself.

But if you were to punch me and because I couldn't punch you back, I decided to punch someone sitting next to you, I am the fool. But that's happening on both sides or on all sides.

The Cycle of Retaliation

The reason is, let's take a look at Brussels. Like I said, those who perpetrated such a heinous crime are saying that you punched someone, now we want to punch someone else because we can't punch you back. And at the same time, after they did it, and do you agree with me, none of us seated here and none of the vast majority of the two billion Muslims on earth agreed with what happened in Brussels. Do you agree? Yes.

We don't agree with what happened. None of us have agreed. But you pay a price.

For who? A group of people who have a warped understanding. You pay a price. Try and travel today to Belgium.

Oh, what happens? You pay a price. Not only Belgium, anywhere. Apply for a visa to somewhere.

See, you don't blame them for having scrutinized people a little bit more. But even if you were to get there legitimately, some of these nations, the advanced nations, the United States of America, for example, they face a problem where there are bigots who attack the Muslims as a result of the actions of a few Muslims. That's exactly how some of the Muslims attack the non-Muslims as a result of the actions of some of those non-Muslims.

That's what we're saying. So when you're a leader, you look deeper than just the statements in the media. You look very deep.

The Need for Deep Understanding in Leadership

It's called al-fiqh, a deep understanding. What happens? You start asking yourself, look, we need solution, man. The solution.

What is the cause? So now they start making you blame one another. You know, as you know, there is politics amongst the sects of the Muslims. It's nothing to hide.

Among these different sects of Muslims, this one belongs to this sect, that one belongs to that sect. There is always animosity and it becomes a game just like politics where each one wants to gain a following and each one wants to portray that they have the upper hand and so on and sometimes they become very low in their approach. So what happens? The Muslim becomes confused.

So we seize the opportunity just like political parties. If one man made a political error, for example, and I'm definitely not speaking about Malaysia because I don't want to interfere in your internal politics. I just pray, you know, you know what I said right at the beginning? As a foreigner, I just pray for the peace of your nation.

Whatever you want to do, please make sure that the solutions to your problems do not create bigger problems. That's all I'm saying. The solutions you want for your nation, think hard, very very hard, because this nation is like a fragile piece of artwork that has been painted through years, decades, centuries, into such a beautiful painting.

Don't try and correct a little cobweb on your painting in a way that you break the entire painting. That's all I'm saying. You want to correct something, do it in a way that will solve the matter.

I sit and I think about Syria, I think about Libya, I think about Afghanistan, I think about so many other nations, I think about Yemen, and I tell myself if they sat around the table for 50 years, it would have been better than to take that nation back 100 years. People are not patient. You don't want to sit around the table.

The Importance of Patience in Leadership

People become impatient. A leader is not impatient. Look at the Prophet, peace be upon him, he was patient.

One after he had the help of revelation of Allah, he was a prophet, but still he was very patient. When the opportunity came, yes, it happened, but he waited for that. He was not impatient.

If Allah wanted, the messenger could have come and in five minutes he delivered the message and walk away, but Allah wanted it to last 23 years. Do you know that? Why do we want solution quickly?

Sometimes when you are impatient, your impatience creates a bigger problem than the one you are trying to solve on the ground. That's all I'm saying.

The Balance Between Culture and Faith

Anyway, let's get back to the other issues. I don't even know where I was, but let me try and... So if we take a look at the issues that are occurring across the globe, we will find that some people just look at the media and they say, okay, that's the problem. Yes, now I know where I was.

Okay. So the internal politics amongst the Muslimin, there will come a time when, like I said, if one politician makes a mistake, even though he is a brilliant politician, everyone makes mistakes by the way, those who are against him or who belong to a different political party may use the opportunity for this one mistake that was made to ignore the 500 things that he did that really resulted in the development of his ministry, for example, and they will bring him down based on that one item, knowing perhaps or

ignoring the fact that they may not be a suitable alternative. Are you following what I'm saying? So they are not worried about the nation.

They are worried about themselves. This is what happens. When you're worried about the nation, you go to the minister or you go to the MP or you go to whoever it is and you address the matter in a beautiful way and you are patient with it and you make sure that you keep trying because you have like I, you know, I gave a similarity of a painting.

It's a very good, it's actually a very good similarity. I'm thinking of it now because it takes a long time to paint and it takes one minute to break or to splash other paint over it that destroys it. You know, the painter has a beautiful painting, one mistake in it, for example, it doesn't make the painting bad.

So what happens in Islam as well as religion, the people of different sects, they become opportunists. What do they do? When they see that the world has an issue and perhaps people are now concerned about security and safety, they quickly begin to portray that a certain group is the problem. Do you know what? Actually if you studied it deeply, if you looked very deep, you would realize its qualities that are a problem.

Extremism exists in a lot of different sects and faiths and like I said at the beginning, even people who don't belong to any faith, even amongst atheists, you have bigots, you have people who are so passionate about what they call towards that they don't give the others an opportunity to even open their mouths. So how do we have to combat this?

By preaching and promoting tolerance and coexistence. Live and let live.

Examples of Tolerance and Coexistence

You want to follow this opinion, no problem. You don't want to follow this opinion, it's okay. Let me give you some examples because I want to get it straight to where I'm going.

Look, if for example a person decides that you know what, I want to cover my face. Tell them okay, for as long as you're not being forced, for as long as you firmly believe within yourself that that is something you need and for as long as you don't shove your opinion down the throats of the others, you're okay, you're good to go. And there is someone else who says, I don't want to.

Well we've got to tell them, look, the same rule, exactly the same needs to be said to them. For as long as you believe this, for as long as you do not shove your opinion down the throats of the others, I'm talking here from a political perspective as well. That's your opinion.

We may want to discuss the issue, you know, we call it da'wah in Islam. In the political circles they don't really call it da'wah, but it is. It's calling towards your opinion.

What am I doing? I'm trying to convince you why I believe at least you should cover your hair, for example. But that doesn't make me a bigot. What makes me a bigot is when I don't allow others to have their opinions or to express them.

Personal Experience: The Christmas Greeting Issue

That's what it is. You know, I faced a problem, an issue, because I once made a statement, and this is something that I'm making mention of, the reason is we're talking here to youth and we're talking here to people inshallah who will be leaders. You know, as you progress, you learn, you develop, you change, you know, sometimes your strategy changes, sometimes even your ideas may change.

If they are guided, a lot of the times with revelation, then there will be minimum changes, because it all goes back to revelation. But I want to give you something quite simple that you will all relate to. I'm sure you heard of this issue of Merry Christmas.

Did you hear it? You heard it, oh, so people started saying, Mufti Menk said you shouldn't say Merry Christmas to the Christians. I'm sure you heard that. Why do you want to just take a small piece of the statement and hold it out like this and make it seem like we are people who do not believe in, you know, a multicultural coexistence, multi-religious coexistence, and so on? Let me tell you.

I was asked about it recently in Singapore, and the reason I'm making mention of this is to show you that, look, we are not stupid, but sometimes people who want to look at it based on how the media has portrayed it may come to a decision or a conclusion that is not enlightened. They haven't considered everything.

Growing Up in Multicultural Zimbabwe

So what happened? You see, we grew up, I grew up in Zimbabwe. We interacted from a young age with the Hindus, the Christians, the Jews, those who are from the African traditional faiths, and so on, and we got along. We mixed in the schools from a young age, and as I grew up, I went to a high school that was purely Christian Catholic. That was the best option we actually had.

They allowed me whatever I had, and obviously we catered for them, they catered for us. There was a lot of respect, and that's how we developed, okay? However, when it came to Christmas, there were so many Christians who didn't believe in it. They said, no ways, this is wrong.

I recall a young boy, I even know his name, and he was with me. He didn't used to like to participate in religious studies, because he belonged to a certain sect of Christianity, and he used to say, these guys don't know what they're talking about, because X, Y, and Z, and he gave his reasons, that's not the topic today. But there are Christians who don't believe in Christmas.

They don't participate in it. Is there anything wrong if they don't believe in Christmas, Christians? There's nothing wrong. They didn't participate in it.

There's nothing wrong. But the minute they put a block on someone else who believes otherwise, then there's a problem. That's what we're saying.

So the question you have to ask yourself, did you stop people from celebrating what they want? No. Did you ban them? No. Did you disallow them? Did you spread hatred against them? No.

"You have your faith and I have mine." So as we grew up, there were a few Hindus who were with me at school.

One of them used to eat beef, and I asked him, I said, how come you eat beef? Isn't this supposed to be your, you know, one of the gods that you consider, you know, a god, with respect to them, with due respect to them. But he says, no, this is a special beef. I didn't understand that, but it was just that, okay, I'm not such a strict Hindu.

That's what it meant. There were other Hindus who would tell him, listen, you are wrong. There were other Hindus who told him you are wrong, and there were other who tried to correct him, but he kept on eating it.

Understanding True Tolerance

And then when it came to Eid al-Adha of the Muslimin, they would never congratulate us. Why? Because we are sacrificing or slaughtering their God, so to speak. We never ever felt bad.

Don't expect, and please don't expect a Hindu to tell you Eid Mubarak at Eid al-Adha. Respect them and understand that what you are doing is blasphemous to them, but they've allowed you to continue. It doesn't mean they hate or they are intolerant.

It just means that they believe differently and they have a separate system of belief, and it would be insulting to them to actually come on to this side here and tell you, look, as much as you're cutting my God, but well done, welcome, enjoy it, you know, enjoy that. You don't expect it. Come on, use your brain.

This is what tolerance and coexistence is all about. It's not about a statement. It's more about allowing them to believe what they have to, with respect in a way that you respect what they have as well.

That's all it is. So what happened is as time passed, it was amazing because when it comes to the other faiths, we found the same. People didn't participate in some rituals of other faiths that did not make them bigots, but they respected each other.

There was a young man who became a Muslim from the Hindus. The day they were, you know, when they die, what happens is they burn the body. They put it, they cremate that body.

Different Perspectives Within Faiths

So from among the Muslims, there are those who believe that it's okay to participate in Christmas. And from among the Christians, there are those who believe that it's not okay to participate in Christmas. Look at the irony. But the idea is if you believe that, by all means, go ahead.

You are answerable to Allah, not to me. If this one believes otherwise, go ahead. But please don't impose it on me. If I don't want, it's one of those things. Come on. You know, live and let live.

Today, the problem is with all parties. We believe we are the only ones who are right. So we want to shove our opinions down the throats of the rest of the world.

If not, they are the problem. They are the terrorists. They are the issue. They are this, that. Watch out. The words you are using will be used against you as well.

Be careful. So this is why we say, as I grew up, I, you know, still we used to sit and eat together as young boys, college. You know, you have your lunch, they have their lunch.

We knew that if you have a beef burger, please don't offer it to the Hindus. It's insulting. It's blasphemous. They would actually feel so hurt. Don't. Would you ever, if you have Hindu friends, actually tell him, hey, have some beef.

I don't think so. Exactly the same could be said about pork and the Muslims. Do you agree? Imagine if your friend says, this is a pork burger.

Come on, bacon tastes nice. You know, come on, come on. You know, how would you feel? They respect you.

Building a Multicultural Society

You get along with them. You build the nation. You contribute towards the building of the nation together.

Do you know that? But you have different dietary restrictions which are respected. So this is something that we need to talk about. It's got nothing to do with this person is intolerant.

There is a big difference between difference of opinion and intolerance. Very big. I can differ with you right now.

I can differ with you on a hundred matters, but I'm so tolerant. I promote tolerance. I promote coexistence.

I promote the fact that all of us should contribute towards the development of our nation.

Here in Malaysia, you have people, you have the Chinese, you have the Malays, on the other hand, you have Muslims, you have Buddhists, you have perhaps people who belong to Christianity, maybe even, you know, Jewish people, whatever other faiths. I don't know how that the nation is made in terms of, you know, the various faiths, but I'm sure there are more than 20 or 30 different faiths.

Look at the civil service. You will have people belonging to every race and to every religion and they are serving the nation. That's what they're doing.

What are they doing? Serving the nation. So as a Christian, he might want to invite you to Christianity. As a Muslim, he might want to invite you to Islam.

As a Buddhist, they might want to invite you to Buddhism. That's part of life. Everyone engages in their da'wah.

So as Muslimin, our duty is to portray and present Islam in a way that when they see the way I serve the country, the way I'm dedicated, my honesty, my integrity, the way I cater for all people and not just for the Muslims, they will then realize this man is indeed a true leader. I am so motivated by the fact that he's a Muslim. You hear the point? The problem with us is I'm a Muslim and I'm a leader and this is obviously a lesson for all of us.

So I think that because I'm a Muslim and a leader of a multicultural, multi-religious nation, I should not cater for others only for the Muslimin. No, no, no, relax. You need to cater for everyone.

There will be people who are in your nation who belong to other faiths. Some of them may really think that your faith is absolutely wrong.

Personal Encounter with an Atheist

So you tell me, you know, once I was sitting on an aircraft and I have a lot of time on an airplane and I had an atheist sitting next to me and we were talking about faith and he said, you guys are very bad.

The Muslims, I said, no you get good and bad in every faith. He said, not Islam. I said, what do you mean? He said, Islam everyone's bad.

You believe in Quran? I said, yeah Quran, we believe in Quran. He says, this Quran, it's got bad things in it. I said, what? He says, you know, it says that anyone who's not a Muslim is going to hellfire.

That is very bad. You guys are filled with hatred. You guys, I said, brother you don't believe in hellfire.

Why are you worried? That's the irony. Atheist, he doesn't believe in the hereafter and he's telling me we are bad because we believe everyone's going to hell. I said, by the way, the Christians believe the same, the Jews believe the same, the Hindus believe the same and most other faiths believe the same.

What about them? He said, no, but they don't have a Quran. I said, okay, this is a bigot. This is a person who really doesn't know.

He is so uneducated. He hasn't mixed. I learned more about other faiths and inclinations and different types of people.

The Importance of Cultural Exposure and Learning

When I traveled the world, subhanallah, I thank Allah for giving me that opportunity. I came to Malaysia, the first few times when I visited here, I didn't know. Every one of us is brought up in a certain environment.

I was unaware of so many things. I learned as time passed. I've now got so many friends in Malaysia, subhanallah, and I've learned so much to say, you know what, the little cocoon that I've been in all along, I need to know that there are different cultures, different ways of looking at things, people who like different things, you know, roti, chinai and whatever else, it doesn't come in Zimbabwe.

It's not there. Okay, that's just an example of food. But in everything else, I mean, I, you know, like we are, we grow up, I'm going to let you know something very interesting, and we follow, we read salah in a specific way.

Since we were young, innocently, you read salah the way you were taught, you get up, you know, you're not exposed to so many other things. When I came to Malaysia, the first time I was exposed to some different things that were happening, and to me, why are they doing this?

When you go to Makkah, don't you see some strange-looking things? I mean, I, for the first time in my life, saw people who read salah, they just come to the sof, you know, what's the sof is the line, they don't

raise their hands when they're starting their prayer, they just come and they stand, and I'm thinking to myself, why is this guy not starting his prayer?

Next thing, he goes into ruku, you know, he goes in, and I'm thinking, when did he start? I didn't see it. Did you know that that is one of the opinions of Imam Malik ibn Anas? It's a maliki madhab, it doesn't make him a bad person, and when he sees you doing this, he's saying, what's wrong with these guys waving hands all of every little while?

So it's what you are exposed to, these are opinions of the fuqaha, they are juristic opinions that are valid, they're not bad, but you won't know, you will think this is bad because you're ignorant, you haven't mixed, you haven't interacted sometimes, and sometimes they are matters of culture.

The Relationship Between Culture and Faith

So someone asks for example, you know what, I have my culture and my faith, which one comes first? Oh, what a crucial question, it's a crucial question because people need to know the answer, and there is a very enlightened answer, a beautiful answer to that.

Look, I tell you, we have cancelled a lot of our culture because as we became educated, we realized that some of it was wrong. I'm not talking of religion, what I'm just saying is, I'm not talking of religion, just the culture alone, I give you some examples. The issue of how we've treated our women, for example, culturally, slowly but surely, as westernization took over, I'm not talking of religion, we began to delete things.

You know, in Zimbabwe, the age of majority at one stage was 14, they moved it to 16, they moved it to 18, and now they want to move it to 21. Why? For many, many reasons. So people start picking on the fact, they said, you know, at the Prophet's time, oh, they were pedophiles, astaghfirullah, they married very, very young people.

You know what, I always tell them, the enemies of Muhammad, peace be upon him, never ever raised the issue of the age of the spouses. Why? It was the norm of the time. At that particular time, in your culture, it was norm, at a certain time, for people to marry much younger, because why? They were mature, not only sexually, but even, you know, mentally, they were mature at a young age.

Today, you have someone who's 25 years old and they're not even mature. Do you agree? I hope they don't shift the age of majority to 25. My son is so upset because he read an article in the newspaper saying that the driver's license age is going to be shifting to 18, and he was always banking on the 16, and he was so upset because he's about to turn 16, and then he tells me two, three days later, I found out that it only applies to those who were born after a certain date, and I'm safe.

I said, okay, you're lucky. But this is how it is. So we change things that we were used to, because new things come about, not necessarily the faith.

Now, when it comes to the faith and religion, they have a beautiful relationship. What is the relationship? We believe that you take the goodness from the culture. Any part of the culture that does not contradict and go directly against the faith, you will still keep it, still have it.

A lot of, you know, when you see someone, you say, this guy is cultured. What does that mean? He's got manners, he's got character, he's got some deep-rooted, beautiful ways and habits. That's what I would think it means.

But if they have bad ways, do you say he's cultured? You wouldn't say that. So it's religion that actually came in and confirmed that all the good that you are doing should remain. That's what happened at the time of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.

The Issue of Name Changes in Islam

You know, people say when you accept Islam, you must change your name. Have you heard that? Have you ever heard that? Please just say yes or no. Now, go back to Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam's time.

They didn't ever change any names besides those names that had bad meanings. Have you ever thought of that? Abu Bakr was Abu Bakr even before. Umar was Umar even before, radiallahu anhum.

Uthman was Uthman even before. They didn't change. Only those that had bad names, bad meanings, they were changed.

And one or two exceptions. But it became our culture where, Mary, you must change it. But that's my name.

Okay. Yes, it's not wrong to change a name, but don't let that become an obstacle. This is what I'm saying.

And now you go back to culturally, people will still believe you're not a Muslim until your name has changed. Do you agree? That's what people believe. So religion is telling you stop snatching people's identities away.

You know, you have Paul. He could be a Muslim who could not be a Muslim. Alhamdulillah.

How do I tell? I tell by the fact that I see him in the masjid. I see him with Islamic habits and characters. He eats halal food and so on.

That's how. Because there are people with Muslim names who are far away from Islam. That's the point I'm raising.

Marriage and Cultural Complications

So subhanallah, you know, when we grow up, we grow up in a certain society environment. Sometimes

there will be a difference. I'm just guessing, but the guess is probably right.

There will be a difference in culture from the people or between the people from the north and the others from the south. And some from the east and some from the west. There will be a difference in culture.

So what happens? Some of these cultures make it so difficult to get married, for example. And then we start saying, you know what? Culture comes before faith. You know what? I'll be honest with you.

Culture and faith go hand in hand. If there is anything bad that is happening, delete it because it is bad. That's what it is.

Like the issue of marriage. It's become so difficult to get married. So it increases sin.

That's what we've been speaking about. The convention we had the last two days, the straight path convention. One of the points that came out of it is every time you make something halal difficult, you are making something haram easy.

If you help your children get married and the cost is not so much. I know as a marriage counselor for the last 16 years, there are so many marriages that they go to take bank loans in order to have a massive party. The marriage is broken one year down, but they are still paying the bank loans for three years.

How's that? Whereas if you had a simple function, you know, you made it easy. They would be married. They would have children.

They would have responsibility. I have another issue. There are people who say you're not allowed to marry until you own a house and a car and you have this and you have that type of a salary.

Yet the parents themselves, when they got married for 20 years, they didn't own a house. Our parents, you know, youth here. By the way, you were saying youth, you know, some of those who are gray have made their way in.

I've always found that with youth programs. When you say strictly youth, that's a greater invitation for others to come, you know. So they argue, so what is youth? And the best answer I got so far is anyone whose age is made up of two digits is still young, mashaAllah.

That would mean from 10 all the way to 99, alhamdulillah. So if you're 99, you're still fine. But if we were to facilitate and make things easy, subhanAllah, it would really really result in goodness on earth.

Like I was saying, our age group, our parents or perhaps our grandparents, when they got married, some of them couldn't afford shoes, do you know that? Some of them didn't really have houses. Some of them never had proper jobs. They were not so wealthy.

But now that we've arrived at an age of materialism, where everything is to do with money, do you know what? The poor guy, he's 21, 24, he wants to marry. And we are making it so difficult, we're putting conditions. You must have this, you must... He needs to be responsible.

That's what it is. Same applies to our leaders. You are the youth, what do you need? Responsibility.

The Qualities of True Leadership

The hadith says, (إِذَا أَتَاكُمْ مَنْ تَرْضَوْنَ دِينَهُ وَخُلُقَهُ فَزَوِّجُوهُ - Sunan at-Tirmidhi 1084) "When someone comes to you whose deen and character you are pleased with, then marry (your daughter) to him." That shows us that they have the characteristics of leadership. You are dedicated, number one.

You are focused, you know which way you are heading, and you are responsible. Your character is exemplary. The problem with today's leaders, and mashaAllah, I'm so glad that I've met the Honorable Minister, and he's actually what I thought he would be, gauging from social media.

Because you have people sometimes, the minute you have a ministerial post, the minute you have some form of qualification, the minute you've crossed a certain threshold of wealth, it changes their attitude. It changes the way they carry themselves, in such a way that they become arrogant. They become inaccessible to the rest.

They create a barrier and a distance. They are no longer worried about the masses, because they've arrived where they wanted, and that was all it was about. The hadith says, (سَيِّدُ الْقَوْمِ خَادِمُهُمْ - ) "The leader of a nation is their servant."

So in position of authority, you will serve more than anyone else. You will be humble, you will be just, you will come out, you will reach out to everyone. Those who agree with you, those who don't agree with you.

Learning from My Father's Example

I was telling you at the beginning of this lecture, that I grew up in Zimbabwe. You know my father, I was so fortunate to witness what he did. As I was young, there were people who spoke against him, they worked against him, they lied about him, they tried to make his life difficult, and every time he would call them, invite them home for tea, talk to them, try and sort the matter out and see.

And I was a little kid, and we would say, but why are you doing this? These guys, they don't like you. He said, look, this is what life is all about. Minimize the fronts of conflict that you have.

A true leader will minimize, you know, the fronts that they have, where people are against them. I can solve the problem, go and keep on speaking to them. And I've seen so many people come and praise him later.

Recently there was a man who made us cry. Old man, he came home and he says, look, I don't know, I may die anytime soon, I've got a health problem and I want to tell you, and he is speaking to my father, and we were there. He says, I want to tell you that I have harmed you, I have done so much against you, I want your forgiveness.

Every time you just kept on helping, you kept on assisting, you kept on calling us, and we kept on harming you. But today I realize that you are a true leader. And by the way, my father's achieved a lot in a short lifespan.

He's still there, alhamdulillah, may Allah grant him goodness. But what I learned is dedication, continue working.

When you have a deep concern for your enemy, oh then you're a true leader, you're a true leader.

Why? I have a deep concern for the one who doesn't like me because I know that if I pray for him, I try with him, I reach out to him, I may be able to, you know, contribute to positive growth for all of us. The minute I channel my energies to attacking one guy whom I can solve the problem with, I am wasting resources that could be channeled towards the development of the entire nation. That's what it is.

Avoiding the Trap of Labeling

So this is why let's think very deep, let's think very carefully. May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala help us. I told you at the beginning I have a lot to say, didn't I? And I've spoken longer than I expected to speak.

I apologize for that, but at the same time inshallah, may Allah grant us humbleness, may Allah grant us humility, may He grant us genuineness, may we really reach out to people, not just Muslims, but people of other faiths as well.

Understand them. Let's have this live and let live policy.

Like I was saying, you know, it's not an issue of Merry Christmas. If you want to participate, you participate. You don't want to participate, you don't.

You believe it's okay, that's fine. You believe it's not okay, that's fine. It's all up to you.

It's you and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. You want to preach this way, you may, you want to, but don't promote hatred, don't promote violence, don't promote intolerance. That's what develops extremism.

We need to thank Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala that we have open minds. We will live and let live. We will allow people to have their opinions, to incline in whatever way they want to incline, on condition that they don't trample upon the toes of others.

They will afford us the same. Like I said, and just to clarify it, I am never ever offended when someone doesn't wish me Eid Mubarak. I'm never offended.

And you know what, what do I say to my Christian friends? Well, have a happy holiday, seasons, greetings, and so on. I've still done the same thing, but I've just borne in mind that I have a faith. There's nothing wrong.

And like I say, there are people who may disagree. There are scholars who will also have another opinion. By all means, that's also a good opinion.

I didn't say it's not, and I didn't say you're not allowed to follow it, and I'm the only guy. But why shove down my throat an opinion that I may not have yet seen the light regarding, and why should I shove my opinion down theirs? No. It's a matter of discussion.

That's all it is. And it doesn't make us bad in any way. And I believe if we think that it makes you bad to have an opinion that is honest, and that is not trampling upon the toes of others, then we're heading in the wrong direction.

We should listen. We should understand, tolerate. Look, it doesn't mean that we want the solutions to the problems that are facing the Muslims, so we must water down Islam.

No. Islam's been in existence for so long. People are saying in America, okay, because now I need to live in America, I'm taking off my hijab, I'm taking off my skirt, I'm taking off my trouser, meaning I'm taking off everything.

What are you going to walk with? Naked? Even if you walk naked, they will still brand you. Mashallah. Even the youngest from amongst us is dressed the best.

Mashallah. Alhamdulillah. So you don't have to give up your faith because of people who have a warped understanding.

No. Continue teaching the people that, look, I'm a Muslim. For example, I'm a Muslim.

And I'm a good Muslim. I'm a devout Muslim. But I'm reaching out to you.

I love you. There are sects among the Muslimin. We get along.

That's how it should be. We should be getting along. We should greet each other.

The Problem of Labeling Others as Kafir

This business of labeling people kafir is one of the roots of the problems we have. And that does not exist only with one sect. Trust me, it exists with many many sects.

When you have a difference, you know, this one's a kafir. Why? For what? Why use heavy terms? Obviously this might be understood by the Muslims more than others. But we know it's a problem

because the minute you label someone with these labels that are so heavy, do you know what will happen? It creates a sense of going back to some rulings in the hearts of some of the Muslims.

And you know the ruling of apostasy, for example. Some of them have made mention of some harsh rulings. The problem is the people start taking the law in their own hands.

That's where the problem is. A few days ago, I saw a clip on YouTube. There is a singer called Junaid Jamshed.

I don't know if you heard that name. What happened to him is, he's a Pakistani. In one of his talks, he was a singer.

And he turned to the Dean and he became a little bit more serious about his faith. But still he was promoting something, saying something. In his statements, you know, we are human beings.

I'm sure we have a slip of the tongue now and again. It's normal. Look, I'm speaking to you without a paper.

So it's definitely possible. In fact, I would have slipped up here and there either linguistically. I might have said one or two things.

I may not have finished what I started. And so it's normal. Human beings, that's what we are.

Someone picked something and said this man is blasphemous against Aisha. The man apologized and he did it publicly and he put it up on all forums. But two days ago, he landed at the airport in Lahore and a group of Muslims with big beards, they started beating him up.

And they broke his glasses and they were hitting him. And he ran away as big as he is. And why? They said he's a kafir.

You know, he's an insulter of the Prophet. The man apologized a long time ago for the slip of the tongue. It was a statement that he made.

He said something about Aisha radhiallahu anha, whatever it was. And he acknowledged, look, it was a mistake, I read a narration, it was a false narration, whatever it was. But they beat him up.

Those are the ones who are listening to the others, who is sitting back in their little parlors, calling this one kafir, that one kafir. What happened? As a result, the public took the law in their own hands to hit him. There's a difference of opinion.

Leave the man. But he apologized on top of that. And still, what was the root of that? It was because someone somewhere called him a kafir.

That's what it is. Relax. If I have a difference with you, I could say, my brother, this is a deed of disbelief.

That's correct. But to label you, hey, this one, that Allah has kept one entire day to do that. It's known as yawm addeen, the day of judgment.

Don't judge people just like that. If people were non-Muslim and they accepted Islam, or people were sinful and they came to the right path. Remember, there would also be people on the right path who later become sinful.

It could be. So don't be judgmental. Try and contribute positively to everyone.

Try and reach out to all. If you see something wrong, there is a way of correcting it. Think and think deeply.

Not just shallow. Think very deep. People are generally good.

But the devil comes to us and makes us love gossip and start up a problem. And we get excitement when we see people fighting. Yeah, you see, it's gone there.

For what? May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala gather us together in Jannah, the same way He has gathered us here. May Allah bless you all.

Questions and Answers

Question About Marijuana Use Among Youth

Question: Recently we know that our youth are very much engaged in marijuana. What is your opinion on consuming weed? Because when I ask those who consume weed, the answer is, it is not as intoxicating, it is not the same as alcohol, and it is permissible. So what is your opinion on this?

Answer: (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim). I'd like to answer that question from two different angles. One is from a medical perspective.

You all know that bad habits should be quit. Agreed? How many of you smoke? Okay, I don't want you to put up your hand because I don't need to know. Okay? But I'm sure those of you who do smoke, you acknowledge it's a bad habit, it's a waste of money, you know that it's wrong to sell cigarettes internationally, not from an Islamic perspective, but internationally it's wrong to sell cigarettes without having a disclaimer where it says, cigarettes kill or smoking kills on the box itself.

So it's a bad habit, we should eradicate bad habits. So if smoking is so bad, weed is worse. Like we always say, the only, subhanAllah, I'm sure you've heard us say this before, that the only weed that is permissible in Islam is Tajweed.

Okay. So actually that weed, now from a medical perspective it's bad. It's so bad, and even if people think, oh it does good to me and so on, it's bad, it's wrong, and anything bad, we should not be doing it.

From an Islamic perspective the ruling is it's prohibited. So I hope you get it. From an Islamic perspective it's prohibited without a doubt, and even from a medical perspective it's so bad that if you were to travel across borders with that in your pocket, most countries in the world would jail you and some of them might execute you.

May Allah forgive us. So I hope you understand that.

Question About Terrorism and Islam

Question: I'm a non-Muslim, and I pray to God countless times that I'm a Christian, and this is by far the most powerful one I've ever been to, and thank you so much for that. My question to you is, as a non- Muslim who believes that every faith advocates peace, and I constantly face many questions from my Christian counterparts when it comes to defending Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism, I sometimes have this question where you say that Islam does not promote terrorism, but all terrorists are Islam. So I, when it comes to that I have to take a step back and I find it a little bit difficult in defending that, because I say that there are Christians who are bigots, there are Christians who promote terrorism, there are all sorts of faiths who have bigots, and what could, I mean how can I give a better answer to this?

Answer: I think what's important for us is to learn and to read and to understand and to see. What has happened in the world is crime is perpetrated.

If it is perpetrated by anyone who is not a Muslim, it's called a crime. And if it's perpetrated by a Muslim it's called terrorism. So it's just the word that they've changed.

So terrorism, the new definition of it, and I'm sure they might put it in the Oxford dictionary if they were truthful, the new definition of terrorism is crime perpetrated by Muslims. You see? So that would exclude all non-Muslims. And I say this because we read this, the press, we know what's happening in the media.

I'm quite well versed with what's going on at the moment. And we feel so prejudiced against when it comes to matters of this nature. You know you have McVeigh, he is not called a terrorist.

You have anyone who is Christian, you know the Sinn Féin for example, you have the Lord's Resistance Army, you have the Christians, the Tutsis and the Hutus in Rwanda for example, the ethnic cleansing that's happened in a lot of countries. These people have massacred millions of people. But they're not called terrorists.

Why? Because there is some form of a, you know normally people say don't just feel pity on yourself by saying things. But there definitely is some form of an agreement to tarnish the image of Islam. And I never used to believe this.

I used to think you know what, these theories and all that, they're wrong. But one thing that is quite clear is Islam is still the fastest growing religion. You know that.

I don't know if you're aware of it. And these people cannot understand. They asked me yesterday or the day before, why is Islam the fastest growing religion still? And I tell you the reason that I feel having spoken to a lot of the women, because the bulk of those who are entering the fold of Islam are actually women.

When they feel that we've now been enslaved in such a cunning way that we don't realize we're enslaved. They used to be naked a long time ago. You know Robert Mugabe is the president of Zimbabwe.

So he said, we all know that he stands for morals and values and he's very strict when it comes to certain things. And he doesn't want to budge when it comes to certain issues. Right? Now I'm saying this in a good way that many many years ago the colonialists came to Africa.

They found them dressed in feathers and leathers and skins and they had spears and you know the traditional African dress. They told them, you are backward. You need to clothe, cover yourself.

So they covered themselves. Two hundred years later they told them, you are backward. Remove the clothing once again.

So now when they are going back to being dressed in less than what they used to be dressed a long time back, they are being told you are liberated. And yet in the middle they were honestly saying dress because when you dress you are liberated. So what is it?

So what's happening right now is the women who are becoming fed up of being enslaved by the makeup industry for example, so enslaved that they cannot even walk out of the house without having spent four hundred ringgits on the face.

It's a reality. And they can't walk out without this and without that. They start thinking to themselves, hang on, how come we've gone back to the stone age where we've taken out all our clothing and we're dressing for a male dominated environment to soothe the eyes of the males.

There was a time when we wouldn't dare tell a woman, you're looking gorgeous. I'm talking about 40, 50 years ago. No one would have come to my mother and say, you're looking lovely.

She would say, hey, shut up. But today you say you're looking lovely. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll actually put it up. We like it.

Oh, someone acknowledged me. Because it's all become this issue. So people start feeling this.

And what happens is they realize, let me cover up. Let me become truly liberated. People must know me for my contribution to the nation.

People must know me for my service to the rest of humanity. People must know me for my character and conduct, not just what I look like. So what happens is when the people who studied what's going on on

the globe saw that as much as Islam is being portrayed in a negative way, it's still growing so fast.

To be honest, words started coming out that would only depict Muslims. So terrorism is an act done by Muslims. Like they say, there was a man, you know, for example, it's just an example that's given online and I've read it where a man saved a dog, right? So people said, oh, this man saved the dog.

What did he do? The dog was on the highway and he ran after the dog and he saved the dog and he actually brought it to safety. So there was an article saying, wow, man saves dog and so on and so forth. And then they found out he was a Muslim.

And what did they say? They then put a headline to say a terrorist Muslim disturbs the peace of a dog trying to cross the road. Come on, come on, come on. Now this is just an example.

Obviously it may also be hypothetical. But at the same time, it goes to show that even the Muslims understand that that word terrorism is abused. Look, we are approximately one and a half to two billion Muslims on the globe.

If Islam was actually a terroristic religion, nobody would exist. They wouldn't exist because, ah, can I stand up? You are a non-Muslim, agreed my brother? Do you feel safe in this room? Mashallah. You feel secure, don't you? We're all Muslims around you.

Remember that? Mashallah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless you. I think I've just made my point.

Shukran, shukran. Thank you so much. Salaam alaikum.

Question About Democracy and Shura

Question: I'm just curious about democracy. Yes, democracy is a way of Islam. And how about shura? Can you explain? Because I'm not sure about the concept.

Answer: Democracy is a term that is used. We need to understand what is meant by it. And what I've noticed is over time, it's also being modified.

It's being modified. So Islam has a system that's not modified. It's there.

Shura is something that is quite close whereby you seek the opinion of the majority of people. But in Islam, the difference is there needs to be qualified people to be able to seek guidance from. So if I would like to participate in a shura, the people that I seek guidance from must be qualified in what I want to ask them about.

You know, I cannot ask a person who's a plumber about someone else's heart disease. I need to get a doctor. And on top of that, I need to have a doctor who is genuinely concerned about the cause.

Let me give you an example about shura. If I were to get married and I wanted an opinion about a certain girl, and I want to ask someone, you know, is it worth it or not? I need to ask someone who knows me, perhaps who may know her, but who has a genuine feeling for me. Because if that person doesn't have a genuine feeling for me, they will intentionally give me the wrong opinion.

You know, if there is a guy who's eyeing out the same girl, he will tell me, very bad idea. Don't. She's a bad woman.

And two months later, the two are getting married. And what did I do? I asked opinion. So the shura also has a lot of, the shura has a lot of restrictions or rules and regulations.

It's not just I sought opinion, but it goes to show that the opinion of others counts even in Islam. That's what it goes to show. So, you know, if you were to say Islam and democracy, yes, the two may not be of the same understanding the way it stands today.

But I want to inform you of something interesting. Many years ago in one of the countries, there were 10 political parties and there was the election happening. And the party that came into power had 30% of the vote.

And the other 70% was scattered through the other nine parties. One had 5%, one had 11%, one had 12%, one had 8%, whatever else it was. So we were looking at it and studying it.

And we were saying that, look at this democracy. It's brought into power someone who only has the support of 30% of the masses. 70% of the masses don't want them there, but they are sitting there.

Later on we got to hear that, no, you have the runoff and you have various other ways of ensuring that the majority wants this person. But then what you're doing is you're minimizing the number of candidates. So I'm voting just because, yes, it's a runoff.

I only have two choices, for example. I have to make one of the two. But in essence, I wanted a third person.

So there are a few things that could be there that still will be modified as time passes with the democracy that we know. Similarly, in different countries it's practiced differently. And what I've learned is in some nations it simply doesn't work.

You know, some nations where we have a culture of a different nature, and in particular I'm referring to some of the Arab nations where you've had chiefs and kings and so on. If you were today to replace that with the western style democracy, you would have what's happened in Iraq, what's happened in other places, that's what you would have.

Because what happened, people said Saddam was a dictator.

Look, I was quite younger at the time. But later on, what happened today, there are so many people who fought for the removal of Saddam Hussein, who will confirm and tell you we would rather have been under his rule than what's happened today. I'm just saying this.

I'm not saying I said it, I'm saying there are so many people who fought for the removal of Saddam Hussein, who say that you know what we are witnessing today? We had a better life under Saddam. So a guy like me would sit and look at that statement and think to myself, well what is it? Maybe they were not educated, maybe there was something else, or like I said in my talk, we went to solve a problem in a way that created another ten problems.

So yes, we do have a connection, we do have an overlapping and we do have areas where the religion and that do not see eye to eye, but one cannot condemn the other completely.

We take a little bit from here that fits there and a little bit from here that fits there and subhanallah, like I say, I wouldn't like to interfere in the internal affairs of your nation and that's the reason why I don't want to tell you don't do this and do that when it comes to matters of this nature.

Final Question About Sectarian Labels

Question: One of the major problems happening especially in this country is the act of labeling someone as Wahhabi and the other parties reclaiming themselves as Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah. So the situation is I used to follow one of the well-known Ustaz in this country and always quoted his words. But I encountered some Facebook pages attacking him being one of the Wahhabi and with some screenshots of his wordings. But both parties are holding Islam as their religion. So what happened is it creates doubt in my mind towards the Ustaz. So can I seek explanation for this issue?

Answer: I didn't want this catch question but anyway it's the last one. So let's go for it. As much as I wouldn't like to address the matter, I have to. Let me explain something.

It's not an issue of Wahhabi, non-Wahhabi. People have been here for years on end. It's an issue of intolerance. It's an issue of extremism on all parties. I believe every Ustaz makes mistakes without exception. Take the good from all of them and leave the bad.

When someone preaches hatred against another, discount it and if you have the opportunity go to them and tell them, please don't talk about other people. I want to ask you a question and I'm going to stand for this. You know who I am, right? I'm a brother of yours in faith.

Have you ever heard me talk bad about another person? MashaAllah. MashaAllah. The innocent have borne witness. Do you agree? Why? I have so much of goodness to share with the world that I don't have time to worry about others.

Come on, come on. Those who talk about others don't have something to present themselves. I'm busy doing my work. So many people send me messages, oh someone called you a Wahhabi, someone called you a Sufi, someone said you're a Salafi, someone said you're a Deobandi, someone said you're a Baralvi. Some of these names I don't even know what they mean, to be honest with you.

I was waiting for the day they said someone called you a chocolate man, because that's true, you know. But all these names for me, I say hey look, I know what I am, I'm a Muslim and I'm trying to spread a good message amongst all groups. Let me carry on doing my work.

The minute I turn to fight them, I become a fighter, I cause a bigger problem and now who's going to do this good work? Because my energy, like I said earlier, all the energies are now being utilized, waste of resources, to do something where it's going to be less beneficial, in fact destructive.

So please do yourself a favor. When you hear labeling, you need to be more intelligent than the label. You need to rise above it and tell yourself, whatever good is coming from this person, I will take it. Whatever bad is coming, I will discount it.

The reason is, even if you belong to one group, it does not mean the ustazas of your group, everything they say is right. They will also say wrong things, you will have to pick it up. And it doesn't mean that there is a Christian across the road, so they cannot teach you something good.

I have had people who taught me mathematics and geography and biology and sociology and English language, who were Jews and Christians and Hindus and people who belong to other faiths. I took from them whatever I had to and I left whatever I didn't. Do you follow what I'm saying?

So, when you go to the university, you will have a lecturer who might be gay, for example, I'm not talking about this nation in particular, but maybe in Europe. You take from them whatever you feel you need to take from them and leave the rest. I'm there to study petroleum engineering, for example, or whatever else. I took whatever I had to and that's it. And I respect them for having given me what they did.

That's humanity. The problem with us is, the problem is all over. We all are guilty of labeling others. This one is this. Let's understand. It's qualities that make us or break us.

You have a bad quality. Look, I'm sitting with people. I don't need to know what inclination he is or I am. I know I get along on common factors that are 9,999 compared to the one item that I might find that I'm different with him in. Do you know? So, this is why I say, let's not allow our nation to crumble based on this labeling that's going on.

Take the good from everyone and leave that which is not good, no matter where it's from.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us ease and goodness. May Allah bless your nation. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant you strength and growth and may whatever issues you may be having be

resolved in the best possible way that results in the true growth of your beautiful nation.

Closing

May Allah reward you with goodness, and may Allah send peace, blessings and grace upon our Prophet Muhammad.