The Purpose of Life - Islamic Perspective

The Purpose of Life - الغرض من الحياة

Opening of the Lecture - بداية المحاضرة

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

Introduction - المقدمة

If you ask about my book, it is the Quran of the Most Generous, the Ever-Merciful, the Ever-Generous. I began by praising God and sending peace and salutations upon all of the Prophets of God, from Adam, and Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus, and the Prophet Muhammad. May God's peace and blessings be upon all of them.

Now, I'd like to first of all put you all at ease by saying I have no prepared speech, no notes in front of me, no hidden agenda here at all. I'm just here to spend the next 20 minutes of hopefully very scintillating conversation with you. We're after that and we'll open up the floor for interaction and open Q&A.

I believe that's really the best way to introduce one another and to introduce our religion is merely to let things take their course as we do in any conversation where if you meet somebody, you let things take their course.

The Fundamental Question - السؤال الأساسي

The topic that was assigned to me is what exactly is the purpose of life? And this is a question that every single human being thinks about in the course of his or her life. It is a question that is the most fundamental of all questions.

I don't think that any question could even come close to being as important as this question is. I mean, why are we here? Why did God create us? What is the purpose of life? People have given many different responses to this question. Different religions give different responses.

For some religions, the purpose of life is the destruction of the self. For others, it is to curb one's ego and one's desires. You have to basically make sure that you have no desires. And when you have destroyed your own desires, you have reached nirvana.

Other religions state that the purpose of life is to serve mankind and to do good to them. And the better you are to man, the better you are in your religion.

The Islamic Response - الجواب الإسلامي

What is the response of Islam? What do Muslims say is the purpose of life? Well, the Quran has some very explicit verses in this regard. In fact, the purpose of life is unequivocal. It is so explicit, there can be no two opinions about this issue.

For the Quran states in one of these verses, the Quran states that God speaks and He says:

"I have not created jinn and mankind except that they worship Me."

So God has negated every purpose that any person can possibly think of. I have not created man for any purpose except that man worships me. The purpose of creation is the worship of God.

And there can be no more noble, no more dignified, no more exalted purpose for life than the worship of God. So the purpose of life for the Muslim is the worship of God. There is no ultimate reason for existence other than to adore, to venerate, to worship this God who has created us.

The Self-Evidence of God's Existence - وضوح وجود الله

And this shows us or this leads us to a very interesting point about the Quran. And that is that the Quran, unlike many books of theology, does not discuss the concept of proving the existence of a God very much. There are one or two verses where God says that, you know, He talks to those who deny Him, basically atheists.

But it is not a central point of Islamic theology proving the existence of God. Rather, the primary message of the Quran is to unify this God in our worship and not to prove that He exists. It's a very profound difference.

If you let this point sink in, the average book of Christian theology, Jewish theology, Islamic theology that is meant for non-believers, the first chapter is, how do we know there is a God? How can we prove there is a God? Philosophers from time immemorial, from Aristotle, the prime mover, the unmoved mover, Socrates, Plato, you know, all of these different philosophers, Dante, everyone had their own. Of course, some of them denied God like Nietzsche and others, but the question was there. Is there a God? If there is, how do we know He exists? Amazingly, the Quran hardly mentions this point.

And the reason, the Quran itself says that the existence of God is so self-evident that to deny it, really, it is a type of lunacy, to be honest. To deny that a God exists, you look around you, you see the perfection, the beauty of creation. And to claim that there was nothing, and then a big bang, and voila, here we are.

To claim that you are denying something that is brighter than the sun at midday. If somebody were to come to you and say, I don't believe the sun is shining right now. How long would you debate with him and try to prove that the sun is shining? I don't think many of us would spend more than 5-10 minutes.

It's like, if you're not gonna believe the sun is shining, I don't know how to prove this to you. It's so self- evident and obvious. Well, for us as Muslims, the proof that the sun has a creator is clearer and brighter than the proof that the sun is shining in the day.

Because God created the sun and all that is around the sun, including us. Life itself, the miracle of life. To claim that we have been created from nothing, really it boggles the mind.

We don't live our lives like that. Nothing happens except that we know there's a cause behind it. If I come home and I find the furniture has been rearranged. I find my pen has been moved from point A to point B. I don't say there was a big bang and it happened. I don't say there was a chance. I know somebody was there.

There was a cause that caused this effect to occur. There was something that happened that caused this change. And to presume that this entire creation, the perfection with which it exists, what we call nature.

To presume this came out of nothing. And the harmony and the inner sync, if you like, of every single aspect of creation. No matter what science you study, be it biology, be it physics, be it chemistry.

You're just amazed at the perfection of everything. And what is more amazing is that all of these sciences are actually interconnected. We, in our limited minds, can only specialize in one subfield.

If I were to do my PhD in chemistry, I couldn't even specialize in chemistry. I'd have to go specialize within a subbranch, of a subbranch, of a subbranch in chemistry. And my entire life would be dedicated to this one subfield.

Hundreds of thousands of academics are all specializing in all these subfields of the natural sciences. The reality is they're all interrelated, they're all interconnected. And that is the world as we know it.

And to claim that all of this is chance. Everything is so perfect. From the air that we breathe, 79% nitrogen, 21% oxygen.

If the percentage of oxygen had been increased, life as we know it could not exist. The distance from the earth to the sun. If the earth were 1% away from the sun, if the orbit of the earth were to be forcibly moved 1% away, the earth would either be too cold or too hot for life as we know it to exist.

The conditions that are necessary for life to exist are so perfect. God tells us to think about it over and over again. He says, look at the world around you.

"You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency. So return [your] vision [to the sky]; do you see any breaks?"

Do you see any flaw? Do you see any mistake? In another verse, God challenges us, look again. Look again, this is the verse of the Quran, look again and see. Do you find a crevice, a crack, a flaw? You're not

gonna find anything.

In another verse, God says, this is the creation I have created. Show me, what is the creation of those whom you worship besides me? What have they created that you're going to worship them? So, Islam does not emphasize the proofs of the existence of God. It's too self-evident.

Rather, it jumps to a far more important and a far more controversial issue. And that is unifying this one God in worship.

True Monotheism - التوحيد الحقيقي

And this leads us to another point and that is the definition of monotheism in Islam is radically different than the definition of monotheism for all other religions.

Muslims believe and this sounds very arrogant but this is the truth. Muslims believe that they are the only monotheistic faith on this earth. They believe there is no other religion that is truly monotheistic.

You open up the dictionary definition of monotheism and you say, they believe in one supreme God. And you say, hold on a second, that's not right. You're not the only monotheistic faith. Christians believe in one God. Many other religions believe in one supreme God. How can you take this term and say you exclusively are capable of using it?

The response is, well, no doubt Miriam Webster might define monotheism to be what it does. But the Quran defines it to be other than what Miriam Webster does. And we take the definition of the Quran. The Quranic definition is not the belief in one supreme God.

Because if this were the definition of monotheism, in reality, there is no religion that is not monotheistic on the face of this earth. The ancient Greeks believed in a multitude of gods, a plethora of gods. But there was one God who was the head God.

The big cheese, the head honcho, Zeus himself. The ancient Romans had a plethora of gods, but there was Jupiter. Modern Hindus, and Hindus are the greatest manifestation of paganism, idol worship in our times.

Modern Hindus, in the end of the day, they believe in one supreme God, Vishnu. It depends on which group you ask. Some say Brahma, some say Vishnu, some say Krishna.

But they all believe, all of them, all of the sub-groups of Hinduism, believe that all of these other sub- gods, demi-gods, semi-gods, originated from the one Brahma, or the one Vishnu, or the one Krishna. So even they acknowledge that deep down there is one God who is the God of gods, the supreme God.

If you were to take the Miriam Webster definition of monotheism, the reality is that pretty much every religion that you look at on the face of this earth is monotheistic.

But that's not the Quranic definition of monotheism. The Quranic definition of monotheism, firstly, unifies God in His being, and secondly, unifies our worship of that God. And this is the profound difference in the Quranic definition and the dictionary definition of monotheism.

To believe in one all-perfect, supreme, unified God. Here, some religions might qualify. Some, indeed.

Hinduism, okay, they would not qualify because they believe in a plethora of gods. In this definition, the one, supreme, unique, all-powerful God. Some religions might qualify.

But then when you get to the other point, and that is, and to unify Him in your acts of devotion and worship. In other words, to worship none save that one God who created you. And this is where the Quranic definition and the dictionary definition of monotheism absolutely collide.

Because, for the Muslim, to worship the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, would make him automatically, ipso facto, a non-Muslim. If a Muslim were to come and to prostrate to our Prophet Muhammad, or he were to say, O Muhammad, forgive me. O Muhammad, grant me salvation.

Save me, O Muhammad. If a Muslim were to say that, that act of his would disqualify him from being a Muslim. Why? Because he has contradicted the very crux of Islam, the very gist of Islam, which is the testimony of faith.

(لا إلهَ إِلَّا الله - La ilaha illa Allah)

Which I'm sure you have heard many times in the course of today's many lectures. There is no deity that is worthy of our worship other than Allah. This is the crux of our belief.

This is the fundamental pillar upon which all other pillars revolve around. If this pillar is not met, even if it is not met by contradicting it via our Prophet Muhammad, it doesn't matter how you contradict it. If you direct an act of worship to other than God, if you pray, you prostrate, you sacrifice, you invoke, you have a relationship with any being, that is an exclusive right of God's, then you have contradicted that testimony of faith.

There is no object, no being, no substance, that is worthy of our worship, our veneration, our love, our fear, our hope, other than the One who created me. Including the Prophets of God, including the angels. So this is the crux of our religion.

And this is why Muslims say, yes, we are the only monotheistic religion because our definition of monotheism is more than just the dictionary definition of monotheism.

The Meaning of Worship - معنى العبادة

So the purpose of life is indeed the worship of God. Now, what does it mean to worship God? Here too the Muslims have a different definition of worship.

When I say the word worship, I bet you the first picture you have in mind is what? Who can tell me? The first picture you have in mind when I say worship? Prayer. Prostrate. Bow down to.

No doubt, that is worship. Nobody is denying that. But in Islam, the concept of worship is broader than that.

Yes, prayer is a very important type of worship. No doubt. In fact, in one prophetic narration, he said:

"(Tirmidhi hadith 3371) "Prayer (supplication) is the essence of worship."

The one whom you pray to, you invoke. When I say pray here, I mean call out to for your needs. Okay, you're invoking.

This is the essence of worship because no single act better illustrates the relationship between the worshiper and the object of his worship than prayer. Because you pray to the being whom you love and loves you. You pray to the being whom you know has the power to give you what you want.

You pray to the being whom you know cherishes you. You pray to the being whom you know hears you, sees you, knows you, cares about you. Therefore, the one whom you pray to, that is the one whom you have made a God.

That is your God. So, no doubt, you're right. Prayer is the gist of worship, even in Islam.

But, it is not the only manifestation of worship. Worship is far broader. It encompasses many, many, many facets of our life.

Acts of Kindness as Worship

So much so, that smiling in the face of a person whom you greet is an act of worship. Helping your brother. In one narration, the Prophet said, when you take water from the well, this is the most common chore that people would do, right? In our times, it's a very heavy chore, nobody does it.

If anybody had to do it, it would be a very difficult chore. You go to the well and you pull water out. That is not something we want to do.

In those days, they have to do that 20, 30, 40 times a day. He said to pull water from that well and then to pour your bucket into your brother's bucket. You give him that water.

This is an act of worship as well. To remove some substance that's irritating people. To remove, basically, to clean the road.

To remove that litter from the road is an act of worship, an act of charity. So, you see, the concept of worship is also different in Islam. Being good to human beings is one of the best acts of worship.

And here is where the Islamic definition of worship is again radically different than many other. Not all, some other religions say, but many other religions. For the Muslim, there are acts of worship that are due to God.

Such as prayer, fasting, sacrifice. And that is the most important. And then there are acts of worship that you can do for the sake of God.

But yes, your fellow men are involved. Primary amongst them is to be good to your parents. This is the highest level of servitude that you show to any human being.

No human being has the level that your parents do in Islam. And then obviously to your spouse, your children, your brothers and sisters, you know, fellow men. And then there is also acts of worship that you do for yourself.

You take care of your body even. And that is an act of worship. There are three, if you like, spheres of worship.

Between you and God, with your fellow man, and with yourself. And in Islam, you have to perfect all three. If a person were to perfect only one of these three, they're falling short.

And this is where we would disagree with many humanists, secular or religious, who claim the purpose of creation is to be good to man. No, this is not the ultimate purpose of creation. The ultimate purpose of creation is to worship God.

And worshiping God, one of the manifestations of that worship, is to be good to your fellow men. Yes. But to restrict this to being good to men, you are neglecting the rights of God.

If somebody were to show you a favor, and instead of repaying him back, you repay somebody else back, that's not very nice. The one who has created you, the one who has given you all that you have, to reject him, to neglect him, to not care about him, it doesn't matter if you do other acts of good, they will be rewarded. Nobody is saying they won't be.

But you have forfeited his pleasure by ignoring and neglecting him. So the greatest act of worship, no doubt, is the worship of God Himself. Then after that, a part of worship is to help your fellow men.

And in this regard, any act of charity, any act of good that brings about good to mankind, is an act of worship. In one prophetic tradition, the Prophet is reported to have said:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat 5787)

"The best of people are those who benefit people the most."

Meaning, once you do believe in God, and you are a righteous person in your daily life, if you want to excel over others, you need to be good to your fellow men.

الخضوع للشريعة الإلهية - Submission to Divine Law

So, the concept of monotheism is different in Islam, and the concept also of worship is also different. One more aspect, and that is, and then we'll open the floor for Q&A and for discussion, and that is, one thing about Islam that many people simply don't understand is that, we also believe one manifestation of worship is to submit to the laws of God.

We believe that Islam is not just dry theology, not just cut and paste, believe in this, believe in that, believe in this, believe in that, no. We believe that the one who created us is the only one who can really and truly tell us how to live our lives. Nobody, nobody is better qualified to tell us what to do and what not to do, what to eat and what not to eat, how to marry and divorce, how to leave our inheritance, how to live our national, international lives than God.

And this is where the concept of separating the church, and say for example, the Muslims, as I'm sure by now all of you know, the Muslims believe that our lives are governed by God. There is no separation in that sense, that I live my life according to the laws of God. I render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, I render unto God what is God's, but there should be no contradiction between the two.

They have to go hand in hand, because Caesar is but a servant of God. And so when the commandment of Caesar goes against the commandment of my God, that is where obviously issues arise. I have to live my life according to the laws of God.

Now, one manifestation of worship as we said, is to submit to those laws. Therefore, for the Muslim, a Muslim believes that a true religion has to not just be cut and dry theology, but also it has to be a system of governance, a system of ethics, of morality. The one who tells us who he is, must also tell us what is moral and immoral, what is ethical and what is unethical.

In fact, it is a logical consequence of a God being a God. Nobody is more, and when I say nobody here, I mean nobody meaning no being, perhaps not the wisest thing to use when you're referring to God, but no being is more qualified to dictate to us how to live our lives. Man cannot even judge himself.

And we all see for ourselves what happens when the majority, quote-unquote, rule. Many of you who are practicing Christians, you all know what happens when, for example, with abortion, with other issues that we all feel very strongly about. Even men are not qualified to judge themselves.

Because the people who become in charge, as we all know very well, that power gets to them. And they start abusing and misusing that power. It's just only natural.

And that is why in Islam, the concept of a government, it's a very different concept. The laws are already up and running. The laws are already there.

The laws have been revealed. It's a very different system of government. Because the government is not there to take power for itself.

The government is there to make sure that the laws that are already there are implemented. And that is where a radical difference occurs as well. Now of course, this leads us to the issue of Muslim minorities living in a land such as America.

That is a separate topic. And I just gave a talk recently, I'll be giving a talk again tonight, where I say in all honesty that yes, we are a minority in this country. Therefore, these views have to remain theoretical.

We must respect the law of the land. We have to understand that our rights here are rights as citizens. We're not expecting to implement our laws internationally or nationally.

But within the realm of my personal life, the constitution guarantees the freedom for me to be religious in my personal life. And that is what we want to do. And that's something we're talking about in a pragmatic way, civic level if you like.

But I'm talking about the theoretical level. Theoretically, a religion should provide not just theology, but also ethics and morality and an entire legal frame of mind. All of that comes part and parcel with the concepts of monotheism and the concepts of worship.

جلسة الأسئلة والأجوبة - Question and Answer Session

So with that, if there are any questions of discussion, any issues that I can help clarify, I don't need it to be written down. If you want to write it, that's fine. If you want to ask it, that's fine as well.

Question: Other Gods and Worthiness

Question: An earlier speaker referred to this commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods. He's telling me the Quran, I'll paraphrase it, is not worthy of worship. In both statements, I would read an implication that part of the gods are just not worthy. That's a very profound question.

Answer: The response to this is there are many gods that are worshipped by men. But none of those gods deserves to be a god. So what is a god? And again, this all goes back to semantics, to definitions.

What is a god? Again, I don't know the Merriam-Webster definition, so I can't quote it, but I'll tell you from an Islamic perspective. A god is a person or even a concept or a thing that is shown veneration, that is shown worship. Any object that is shown worship becomes a god.

Now, whether it's worthy of worship or not is a separate issue. But an idol is a god. In Islam, we would call it an ilah, which is a god.

We would call it a god. But does that idol deserve to be a god? No. So the meaning of our testimony:

(La ilaha illa Allah) "There is no being that is worthy of being worshipped other than God, other than Allah."

So there are many gods, if you like small g's, there are many gods out there. But none of them deserves to be a god. None of them is worthy of that status other than the one true God.

Question: About Sacrifice

Question: When I said a manifestation of worship is sacrifice, what do you mean?

Answer: I didn't mean human sacrifice or something of this nature. I meant that... I should have clarified here because the word sacrifice has very different connotations in different religions. What I meant was that for Muslims, when we kill an animal to eat it, goats, sheep, whatever you eat, whatever animal you eat, we're not allowed to take the life of that animal.

That life is sacred. We don't have the right to take the life of that animal unless we mention the name of God. So we have to consecrate.

It's very similar to kosher laws where the rabbi has to come and he has to bless, if you like. He has to say, God, I'm doing this for you. I mean, I don't have the right to take this life unless you have given me this right.

And we Muslims believe God has created animals for us in that sense that He has given us the blessings to eat their meat. But I don't have the right to take that animal's life without mentioning God's name. And so to sacrifice an animal for the sake of God, meaning that I mention His name, this is an act of worship.

To sacrifice an animal without mentioning God's name, that's sinning. You're taking a life without any reason. So that's what I meant.

Question: About Spirituality

Question: Well, I would just, in terms of Islam and other religions, there's a concept, at least in, you know, I think other world religions, the idea of spirituality and that, you know, there's a way that God moves and is and has God's being among us. How do you see the life of the spirit operating in Islam?

Answer: The word spirit, once again, we need to define what do you mean by spirit. There is a spirit that is inherent in every single one of us. We call it a soul.

We believe that God created man in body and in soul. We have a physical body and we have something, call it inside of us, even though we don't know the dimensions, we don't know whether it's inside or outside, but we have something called a soul, a spirit that God has given to every single human being.

And life and death is the entering and exiting of that spirit.

When the spirit leaves the body, the body becomes a corpse. The whole point of what life and death is. So if you're referring to that spirit, obviously this is given to all of us.

And God says in the Quran that when He created Adam from clay, that was the body, He then blew of His spirit into Adam. So there is something about the spirit that has a connection with God. And that's why we believe that God takes care of us both in body and in soul.

The one who provides our food and drink and air will also provide for our spiritual needs as well. That's the purpose of there being a God. If you mean by spirit, the spirit with a capital S, the Quran also refers to a spirit, just like the New Testament refers to a spirit.

For Christians and for Muslims, the spirit means radically different things. Or maybe it doesn't depending on which understanding you follow. For Muslims, the spirit is none other than the angel Gabriel.

This is the spirit, the spirit with a capital S. The spirit of God in that sense is the angel Gabriel. So the spirit that God sends down to the prophets is the best of all angels, the angel Gabriel. There is no angel that is holier or more close to God than the angel Gabriel.

And His whole purpose of existence is to communicate between God and the prophets of God. And so when God sends His spirit to these men, He is sending the angel Gabriel to them. And that is our understanding of spirit.

As you are very well familiar, the Christian understanding is very different than that. That doesn't mean though by the way that God is not a moving force in our lives. Quite the contrary.

Without God, we would not live for a millisecond. How? He is our provider and creator and sustainer. I mean, the very air that we breathe, God consciously wills us for us to breathe it.

He is fully taking care of us for every single millisecond of our lives. I mean, without God, there is no life. One of the meanings of Lord in the Arabic language, one of the meanings of Lord is cherisher and sustainer.

The one who takes care of me. So without God, there is no life. So there is no, it's not a question of how, it's a question of when and when not.

If God doesn't take care of you, as God says in one verse in the Quran:

"My mercy encompasses all things."

Nothing exists except that God's mercy is surrounding it. If God's mercy were not a part of where we are, of what we're doing, we wouldn't be able to live.

Nothing can exist without the mercy of God. Even the enemies of God. God has to provide for them.

Even those who deny God, they belie Him with their tongues. But God will feed them and take care of them because He is the one who provides and sustains and nourishes. So that is the physical taking care.

God also takes care of the elite of people spiritually, not all of them. Spiritually, He will take care of those who want to turn to God. Anyone who wants to be sincere in his worship of God, God will take care of him, not just in body, but in soul as well.

But God does not come down or indwell within us, if that's what you're referring to or something. We as Muslims believe, no, God is distinct from the creation. He takes care of us, His mercy descends, we're surrounded by, but He Himself is distinct from us.

Nor does He come down or dwell within us.

Question: Philosophy and Education

Question: This is a personal question. Why are you studying at Yale if you see so little value in philosophy?

Answer: I believe that philosophy is a science whose basic premise is flawed. The basic premise of philosophy is that via man's intellect, the ultimate truths of life can be arrived at. There is no need for inspiration from God.

And I believe that, no, that's simply not true. Unless and until we have the revelation from God, we're not going to arrive at the ultimate truths of life. And the greatest indication of this is that there have been hundreds of thousands of philosophers in history of man.

And if you ever study philosophy, you must study hundreds of them. And no two of them, from the time of the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers until our modern living philosophers, no two of them ever agree on any fundamental point of life or death or ethics or morality or anything.

How can this possibly be true? When every single philosopher propounds a different theory of everything.

If any philosopher were to come and agree with the previous philosopher, he wouldn't even be famous, he wouldn't be worth studying, right? He would be nobody. So in order to do something, he has to go against everybody, okay? And here you have, you know, certain philosophers who become famous merely because they know they exist. You know, I'm referring to who here?

Descartes. Descartes became famous in history because he proved to people he actually exists, right? I think, therefore, I am. And you have to ask yourself, if philosophers don't even know they exist, are they worthy of us studying their ideas? So, you know, I'm sorry, yes, I do think philosophers kind of have lost track of reality.

My PhD is Islamic studies. Therefore I'm studying Islamic studies. In the course of my Islamic studies, I am personally concentrating on philosophy as well.

Because I find it very interesting coming from a different perspective now. Not coming as a student. Coming, in my humble opinion, as an outside observer now.

I'm not affected by the views of Aristotle and Plato and Socrates and Descartes and Hume and Nietzsche. I'm not affected by them. But I read them and I see where they're coming from.

Question: Judaism and Islam

Question: You stated that Islam is the true monotheistic religion. Yet when you were describing how it was, I saw my religion. I'm a Jew. And I saw Judaism described perfectly. Why do you say that Judaism is not a true monotheistic religion?

Answer: Yes. The amazing thing is that out of all the religions in the world, the two religions that are fighting the most are Jews and Muslims. But the two religions that are the most common and have the most commonalities are Judaism and Islam.

And I never cease to be amazed at the similarities between Judaism and Islam. The more I study Judaism, the more clear it becomes to me that the source of these two religions is the same.

The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him had no interaction with the Jews, especially in Mecca. Even when he came to Medina, it was cursory interaction. He never studied Jewish law or Jewish thought. And yet when you read the theology of Islam, when you read the legal system of Islam, it is pretty much the same thing.

In terms of dietary requirements, in terms of purification, in terms of even women's menses. If you know the laws of Judaism, the laws of Islam, pretty much the same. And what just amazed me more and more studying about these issues, and the conclusion is obvious for the Muslim, that is that the source of both of these laws is the same.

When God revealed to Moses how to live his life, the same God who lived the time of Moses is the same God who lived the time of Muhammad. Those laws don't change. What's bad for men then is bad for men noW.

And so that law doesn't change. And that's why Jesus Christ himself affirmed the law of Moses. He was a Jew. He didn't eat pork. He was circumcised. Unlike many of those who claim to follow him, they don't follow the law that he himself followed.

So the laws of God don't change over time. Therefore I agree with you that yes, for the most part Judaism and Islam are extremely similar. But there is one point where we will have to basically show that this is the difference.

And that is a rejection of the prophets of God. So it's not to do with monotheism. Jews are monotheistic.

So I do agree with you. And I would make a disclaimer here. Qualification and that is that personally speaking, I think that it's the Orthodox Jews who really and truly are similar to the Muslims. If you look at the reformists, even the conservatives, for the most part they're kind of rejecting the law of God.

So the Orthodox Jews who fulfill the laws of the Torah and the laws of Moses, yes, there's a lot of similarity. But there's one issue that we're gonna have to say that's a very major issue. And that is to deny some of the prophets of God.

And for us as Muslims to deny the prophethood of any prophet is tantamount to rejecting God Himself. So if a Muslim were to say, I don't believe in Moses, but I believe in Jesus and Muhammad. Or if a Muslim were to say, I don't believe in Jesus, but I believe in Moses and Muhammad.

That person is not a Muslim. Because the Quran very clearly says, belief in all the prophets is a fundamental principle of our religion. Hence, for the Jews to say, we don't believe in Jesus and Muhammad, two prophets whom God sent, then that is a rejection of the faith, even if it is not polytheism.

You can reject faith in other ways than polytheism. So the Jews, I agree with you, you're right. And if I didn't make that disclaimer, I make it now, you are absolutely correct.

For the Orthodox Jews, they are following the law of God, and they're worshiping God, and they believe in that one monotheistic God. But some people will point out, even the concept of God slightly differs in the sense of the names and attributes here. We cannot visualize God.

Neither is God characterized by any negative attributes. God does not forget. God does not regret. God does not cry. God does not rest. God does not know where Adam is in the Garden of Eden.

Certain things that are mentioned, the Muslims would say, no, that's just not the God that we know in the Quran. God is all perfect. No negative attribute is applicable to Him.

Question: Gender Reference to God

Question: You're referring to God in the masculine. Couldn't God be feminine?

Answer: God is neither male nor female. So, God is God. But the Quran refers to Him in the masculine. And hence, in basically, you know, keeping with Quranic terminology, and the Bible as well, the ancient Hebrew scriptures refers to God in the masculine as well, simply because in those languages, talking about God, it was more respectful to use the masculine in the pronouns.

However, God Himself, there is nothing like Him. There is no species that there is male or female. So, you know, God Himself is not described with that gender.

But to refer to Him, the Quran and also the ancient Aramaic and ancient Hebrew, it is a part of respect to use the masculine pronoun. But that doesn't mean that the gender applies to God.

Question: Continuity of Prophetic Message

Question: All the prophets agree with one another in theology and in the basic broad outlines of morality.

Answer: All the prophets agree with one another in theology and in the broad outlines of morality. There is no difference of theology between Adam and Moses and Abraham and Noah and all of the Israelite prophets and Jesus and Muhammad.

Nothing. The Quran in one verse says to Muhammad:

"Say, I am not something original among the messengers."

That's a sign that a man is a prophet when he brings forth the same theology.

And this is one point that Muslims don't understand about Christian theology, that the theology that Christians believe in is radically different than the theology found in the Old Testament. All of these hundreds of prophets come, Abraham and Moses and all of these Israelite prophets, and they're preaching a theology. And then the Christian theology as it exists today, of course we as Muslims believe this is a theology that was invented by Constantine and Paul.

It is not theology of Jesus Christ. It is a theology of Constantine and Paul and other specific individuals. But it amazes Muslims that how can you have a continuity when a man comes and then claims to be radically different from all that have come before him.

And so, one of the claims of prophethood for the Prophet Muhammad is to say, I am preaching the same thing that all the prophets before me preached. Which is, there is only one all-perfect God and He has sent prophets so that that God be worshipped. So the theology never changes.

Broad issues of morality, murder, stealing, lying are always evil. Being good to your parents, being good to the orphans and neighbors is always good, also remains the same. What changes are the minutiae of the law.

The finer details of the law. And here for example we find Jewish law, their requirements for kosher are stricter for example than the requirements for the Muslim halal equivalent. Similarly certain things might be allowed for them and prohibited for us and vice versa.

Trivial things. But not the broad premise of morality or of anything of theology. Even the minutiae doesn't change.

Nothing can change in theology because God doesn't change, the angels don't change, aspects of belief don't change, but aspects of manifestations of how we're going to worship God, they might change from prophet to prophet.

Question: Problem of Evil

Question:

A person is pointing out evil that exists around the earth and so much evil is out there, wars going on, famines and plagues. How can you say that the creation is perfect? This is a very deep question.

Answer:

And in reality it brings us to an even deeper question and that is how do we explain the existence of evil? This is in fact the actual question. And this is a question that many people, theologians and philosophers, the ones who might look down upon so much, they've all tried to find answers to. If God is all powerful, and He's also all merciful, two characteristics that all religions believe in, right? No religion says, my God is weak.

Every religion has to say, my God is all powerful. And also pretty much all religions say, God is merciful, He loves mankind. If He is, then how come my neighbor's friend, suffered a car accident where his son died? How come children are dying of starvation in Africa? How come the tsunami wave killed 100,000 people as it did? How come, how come, how come? Very deep question, it's not trivial.

It's not trivial. So deep that it's actually led to the formation of certain religions such as Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism and whatnot to try to explain this question. They basically came up with a new theology.

But to summarize, Islam has an interesting response to this. Point number one, Islam says, there is no such thing as pure evil in existence. There is no such thing that is pure evil.

There might be things that have some evil, but there's also some good in them. No matter what happens, there is maybe some bad in it. Sometimes things happen, there's nothing but good.

So there's pure good, yes. But there's no pure evil. Most things have some good and some evil, including all of us.

We have some good, we have some evil. Similarly, every incident that occurs, or every affliction that happens, every calamity that takes place, there is an element of evil, but there's also an element of good in it. If there were no poor people, we could not be generous.

If there were no calamities, we would not gather together to help each other with those calamities. If we never saw a misfortune, we would never appreciate the fortunes that we have. So there is some good that comes out of every single evil that occurs.

Another point that Islam mentions, and that is that, you are judging good and evil based upon your limited judgments. Using our finite minds, we're projecting what is moral and immoral upon the law of God. If God does something, we think we have the arrogance to say, this is good and this is not.

When our children are born, we take them to the hospital for vaccinations. You ask that little baby if it could talk, does it want to be stabbed and jabbed by a needle? He's gonna say, no I don't. But we know what's better.

And sometimes you have to stab and jab and inoculate and vaccinate in order to protect for a greater good. So for us to presume of God that we know what is evil, when a tsunami wave hits, this is all nothing but evil. How do you know? How do you know? Are you becoming all knowledgeable? You're using your limited mind to pronounce a judgment on the acts of God.

A third point, you are forgetting that there is something called the hereafter, where every single person who has suffered will be rewarded for that suffering. So much so the Muslim believes that those who have suffered extensively, when they come on the day of judgment, and they see the reward that God has in store for them, they would wish that they suffer even more. God will make it up for them, that's the point.

They will make it up for them in the hereafter. There is something called the hereafter. The Prophet said:

(Bukhari hadith 1248)

"No Muslim who has three children die before reaching puberty will be touched by the Fire, except for the fulfillment of the oath."

Just because they were patient at the most difficult thing that any parent can face, and that is the death of a child. This is the most difficult tragedy. Your own life is nothing compared to the life of your child.

The way you love your own son and daughter, there is no comparison. For your son and daughter to be extinguished in front of your eyes, there is no tragedy greater than that. Any parent who undergoes that, that child will be a means of intercession.

They will enter God's kingdom because they were patient at that tragedy. So we're judging and we say, how could God have taken that child? But that child will enter the kingdom of heaven and so will the parents. The parents will also enter paradise.

You're forgetting there is something eternal, not 20, 30, 40 years of this life, eternal. That is the rewards of God. So all of these factors into account, we basically state, indeed sometimes things occur that have some evil in them.

But the good that exists is always worth the suffering that occurs and there is something called the hereafter where every person who suffers, every person who undergoes a trial will be given the reward that is due to him.

Question: Church and State

Question:

Oh, it's a question of separation of church and state.

Answer:

You know, I have a very different view than many Muslims. Sometimes Muslims kind of get irritated at me for saying this. But I say, you know, we have to be pragmatic here.

We're living as a religious minority and I am not calling for a theocratic state. I'm very blunt about this, I am not. We're not calling for, I personally am not of those people who are calling to establish Islamic caliphate in North America.

I fully understand that we are a religious minority, that the same constitution that allows many of the things I don't like, it also allows me to be who I am. And if we were living in a purely religious country where some of the more right wingers were in charge, I wouldn't be allowed to live here. I fully understand that and I appreciate it and I'm thankful to God for it.

Therefore, I am not of those people who is calling for a theocratic state. However, I am calling for the right to live my life the way that I see fit. And that's something that I believe the constitution clearly does give.

That if you believe that you wanna worship XYZ, that you wanna do whatever you wanna do in your personal life, the constitution clearly allows me the right to worship the way that I see fit.

As long as it's not infringing on anybody else's right, you don't have the right to come and say, you're not allowed to worship Allah, or you can't pray five times a day, or you can't wear the scarf, or you can't grow a beard. No, that's not your right.

Because the whole point of the constitution is separation of church and state. And I appreciate that. I do.

And I fully agree with certain people who say, to those who are calling for an Islamic state, the state you're calling for, it will strip away the rights of many of the people here to do as they please. I understand that. So I'm being very pragmatic.

I'm an American Muslim here. And I understand that if I wanna be an American Muslim, I have to acknowledge the laws of America and the laws of God. And so in this sense, I do agree with Jesus Christ when he said, render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and render unto God what is God's.

Question: Christ as Model

Question:

I follow your definition of worship. I do not worship Christ, but I view Him as a model for living. How do you respond?

Answer:

And he says here, I'll say, your passion about God and Islam comes across as intolerant and demeaning of people of other faiths. I appreciate your honesty. If I do sound intolerant and demeaning, I really do apologize.

However, I am basically, and I'm actually stating, I believe that Islam is the religion from God. That's something that I can't quite, you know, mix my words and mince my words about. I believe Islam is the religion of God.

I believe Judaism and Christianity are also religions of God, but they have been supplanted by later religions. Judaism has been supplanted by both Christianity and Islam, and Islam has been supplanted, has supplanted the other two traditions. I did not mean to sound intolerant or demeaning, and I do apologize if you felt that way.

But with regards to your first point, and that is, I do not worship Christ, but I view Him as my model for living. How do you respond? I respond, that's exactly what needs to be done. But if you really and truly want to worship God, you need to follow the example of the final prophet as well.

There is no contradiction in this, and in order to be a full Muslim, you follow the examples of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. All of them. Okay, you don't restrict yourself.

And that goes back to the question, you know, my Jewish brother asked, and that is, I believe in God and the laws of God. But the response was, for a Muslim to be a Muslim, you also have to believe in all the prophets. But this is a positive step.

And I would like to point one thing perhaps, obviously the topic is very limited, I can go into a lot of tangents. One point that I would like to mention, it is not the right of any Muslim to assign heaven and hell to another human being. It is not our right.

I cannot judge any of you sitting here. Even if I disagree with your theology. Even if I say, I don't agree, Jesus Christ is the son of God, I disagree with this.

Even if I say, you must believe in the prophet Muhammad. Yes, that is what we believe. But we also believe, our job is to proclaim the message.

And judgment is for God alone. This is a fundamental point of Islam. It is not my right to assign heaven and hell to anybody.

I never said, and no Muslim can ever say by the way, if anybody says this, I'm a theologian, my expertise is theology. Any Muslim says that you are going to hell. That Muslim doesn't know what he's talking about.

He has no clue. In Islam, we are not allowed to specify even heaven and hell. Muslims don't even know if they're going to heaven.

We don't know. Maybe God will punish one of us because of our arrogance, because of a sin that we've done. We don't know.

Don't be self-righteous. We're told in the Quran, there's a verse in the Quran:

"So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him."

So, I really do apologize if I've come across as intolerant, but perhaps it is my zeal for believing in Islam that has come across this way. As for judgment, I unequivocally believe only God judges. Only God knows who you are, what your intentions are.

And those who really and truly are sincere, God knows who they are. And God will look at that and judge you based upon that. But I do say as a Muslim, that we have been told in our text, and it's quite clear, just like Christians believe the only path to God is through Jesus Christ.

Similarly, we believe the only path to God is through submission to Him alone, not to any other being. And by worshiping Him through the laws that He has revealed. We believe this as a general, generic reality.

As for specifying upon individuals, we leave the judgment to God alone. And it is possible that certain people might not necessarily agree with us, but God knows what's in their heart, and He knows they were sincere, and He might forgive them on the day of judgment. We believe this as well.

So it's not my job to pronounce verdicts on anybody. But it is my job to proclaim the message of Islam. And that is what hopefully I try to do.

خاتمة المحاضرة - Conclusion of the Lecture