Ep 218. - Is Our Ibaadah Becoming Too Selfish? with Dr Khalid El-Awaisi
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Bait ul Maqdis – the sacred precinct in Palestine - is a blessed place in Islam – but today, we have downplayed maybe its centrality to what it means to a believer. From my last conversation with Dr Khalid al Awaisi – where he controversially said that al Aqsa and these blessed lands have to be more clearly central to our faith and worldview – we want to explore how we practically manifest this nearness to bait al maqdis or Palestine.
Dr Khalid El-Awaisi is from Hebron, Al Khalil, in Palestine. He is a lecturer in the pioneering field of Islamic Jerusalem Studies. He is an Associate Professor of Islamic History at the Social Sciences University of Ankara.
You can find You can find Dr Khalid El- Awaisi here:
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Transcript - This is an automated transcript and may not reflect the actual conversation
Introduction
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seeing a genocide continue while the umah is enjoying large feasts we have secularized
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our religion the West doesn't have a problem with Islam at a personal level the month of
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Ramadan is the month of change at an individual level and at an umah level a genocide continues
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with two billion Muslims doing nothing is something that every Muslim today will be
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questioned about I felt ashamed eating and drinking while they're starving they have work and they have families and they have houses you know to pay and they have rent
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to pay no one's going to change the time you die and no one can increase or decrease your
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risk Ramadan is a month of reflection self-improvement and connection with
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our creator Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala but the neoliberal secular world around us tends to
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deregulate this month to the individual as if our place the demands of the personal above the
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demands of the umah and Seeking Justice how do we move beyond the secularization of our faith
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how can we truly appreciate Ramadan for what it is a transformational month for ourselves
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and for our impact upon the others around us now to help us understand this discussion in
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Greater depth I've really honored to have back on the show Dr khid Ali Dr khid is from Hebron
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Al Khal in Palestine he's a lecturer in the pioneering field of Islamic Jerusalem studies
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uh he is the associate professor of Islamic history at the social sciences University of Ankara and the executive director of Islamic Jerusalem academy uh Dr KH aamayum and welcome
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back to the think it's a pleasure being back on this show well it's lovely to have you with
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us and uh you know jaak for um for coming once again alhamdulillah I know you have a very busy
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schedule of of lecturing around the world and it's just so happens that you've come back to the UK in
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time for this show which inshallah we we hope to get out for for Ramadan um I in the introduction
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um place this dichotomy between the personal and Justice and um and I argued that or argue
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that there is a secularization of the faith um it really is building on something you said last
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time when we had a conversation about Jerusalem and the importance of Jerusalem um I suppose my
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first question is um how do you see that dichotomy like which takes precedence the personal or the
Personal vs Ummatic Obligation
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um like how do we as Muslims navigate these two obligations if they are indeed obligations yes uh
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I think I I completely agree with you that the we have secularized our uh religion that has become s
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ritual Islam seems to be disconnected and it's about the personal and actually this over the last
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century this has been one of the main problems that the Muslims are having and this is part of
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uh what we might call identity crisis that the umah has and Scholars have talked about this
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in various different dimensions of it but what we see is that the West doesn't have a problem
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with Islam at a personal level right it has a problem and the enemies of Islam in general
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have a problem with Islam at the global level and here this takes us into another uh uh discussion
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which is why are we on Earth yeah and it goes back to the starting point where Allah subhana
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wa T says to Adam before creating Adam he says to the angel angels creating a vice Regent on Earth
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and this concept of aifa on Earth isn't just for Muslims or it is to make this world a better place
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for everyone and this is at a personal level and at the um level you put these two ideas
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together yeah that you cannot detach them from one another and we see this in the examples of
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all the prophets of Allah subhana wa tala without exception that they're all constantly uh working
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on the individual and uh the community at large or uh uh the the the the world or at Humanity
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whether they accept their faith or they do not the idea is uh being beneficial to all of humanity
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and we have seen this across throughout Muslim history before R wasallam and after Al wasallam
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and you see it with Muslim Scholars that all the inventions everything is about being beneficial
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to uh to to the world uh and making this place a better place for everyone to live in including
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animals and as Theif of the Muslims he says if a a a donkey would trip in the road in a road that
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hasn't being paved well in Iraq Allah will ask me about it so it's about not just uh uh the Muslims
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not just about Humanity it's about everything within within within this world but going back
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to the question that you you started about the individual and the secularization I think this is a very dangerous uh point where Muslims have become very individualistic
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yeah and have become uh what I call capitalist Muslims or what you might call selfish Muslims
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uh the we we don't think about others we're all thinking about how can I get more money
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how can I uh enjoy my life and this breaks away from the core that uh it's not just about the
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individual it's about the family it's about the community it's about Humanity as a whole and what your purpose is and this is why s Ali wasallam constantly uh even before his prophethood he moved
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away into seclusion uh in to try to ponder why Society is so corrupt in order what can I do and
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then with The Message of Islam this he uh changed the whole world in that in that sense and he was
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not individualistic wasallam uh does not did not want this um to be brought up to be uh all I think
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about is myself yeah uh and you see you mentioned the month of Ramadan Umi wasallam the month of
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Ramadan is the month of change at an individual level and at an um level all the great battles
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of Islam uh happened the first one uh B uh and the fat of meca uh numerous uh conquests or F happened
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in the month of Ramadan because they weren't not thinking just about themselves and their personal
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atonement they're thinking about the and where it should be heading to one of the things that we should try to inculcate in our life is a reciprocation of
Donate to Baitulmaal
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Allah's blessings recognizing the sun of Allah and one of the great Sun of Allah
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the patterns of Allah in creation that we see in the Quran and Hadith is for us to care for Orphans so just as Allah subhah wa ta'ala took care of the Prophet sallallah alai
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wasall we should then extend that care to the orphans in the world today and bab toal is at
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world I've uh come across people who or Scholars who argue that Allah subhana wa
Accountability
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tala is not going to question me about Gaza or about Netanyahu or about Trump or about Biden
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because these are things uh that are beyond my ability to control but Allah was going to ask
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me about my fasting and my prayer and my zaka and my Hajj and so they argue that there are
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in effect there are some things we control and that's our personal Salvation And there are some
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things we just can't control the world around us is there a problem with having that mindset
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I think the problem with that is it takes us back into that question then why wasallam wanted
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to change society yeah then there is no point and the uh there is a sense of that where Allah
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says in the Quran all you who believe you're accountable only for yourself it will not harm
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you if someone chooses to deviate as long as you're rightly guided uh so in a sense you
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are responsible for yourself but what we what we have missed out is this is not your role the role
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of the umah as a whole and there is something in Islam called as long as someone is doing it
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then you're not required to do it a collective obligation yes so this Collective obligation
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uh no one's doing today so in a sense it becomes immediately upon every Muslim which means that is
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obligatory until it is fulfilled that then you can say well this is not my role and we we talk about
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this in the context of razza a genocide continues with 2 billion Muslims doing nothing is something
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that every Muslim today will be questioned about right uh you uh put that in the context of uh the
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role of a Muslim in society and if we're unable to change the course of history then um there's
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a Hadith that really is very scary um and over the last year this is in Muslim um that the prophet of
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Allah subhana t on the day of judgment something that every Muslim would like to drink from the
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hand of wasallam on the day of judgment andas says that a group of my um will be coming approaching
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and then the angel will snatch them and throw them in the Hellfire and immediately Ras intercedes and
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he says they're part of my um and Allah says to him you do not know what they have done after
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you in the collective sense and this really scares me that the umah for the last 100 years
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has really gone astray uh and this is a personal responsibility and a collective responsibility
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and I think you cannot dismantle these Allah yes will ask you about your uh the things that he has
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required you to do but in terms of why are you on Earth it's not and that's why wasam says none
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of you will enter Jenna Because of Your Action in terms of your yeah it is the mercy of Allah
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and wasallam puts it in another context you see uh the importance of making a difference on the
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collective level uh and this is why sometimes you need leaders ship but with the umah for
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the last century without a leadership uh with 57 Muslim states uh with different uh alliances to
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various different powers this umah has lost its uh Direction and one important thing that we see
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from the sahabah afteri wasallam before they buried alaihi wasallam they chose Abu Bakr as
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his successor as his khif yeah because with this becomes uh it becomes an obligation without it you
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don't know which direction you and this umah is completely today doesn't have a direction because
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there is nothing that unites the Muslim and this was part of um the unfortunately Western Powers
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against the idea of a Unity amongst Islam Lawrence of Arabia talks about this openly in his book that
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we should turn the people away from Haj to Mecca to nationalism to Damascus uh and he open he
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talks about this openly and this is where we have shifted away from uh from this particular uh uh we
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have shifted away from this particular concept of a Unity with One Direction into so many directions
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without a purpose I'm interested in in what you said there's a few strands that I want to pick at
Gradient of capabilities?
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uh in terms of what you say firstly uh ability uh because you've said that uh this obligation
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to our um is a collective obligation yes uh but of course every obligation uh comes down to at
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least it depends on our ability to discharge that obligation um so my first question is um and it's
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linked to what you said there about leaders and the absence of leadership of course the leaders
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of the Muslim countries would have a greater uh weight uh on this obligation because they're in
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a leadership position whereas I don't know a university student is going to by definition
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have less ability um so does the the obligation in your mind uh become lessened if not lifted
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because we don't have access or capability like those Scholars or lead or or busmen who may be
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multi-billionaires uh they have on the next is there a is there effectively a a gradient
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of uh of capabilities this question what will I leave behind me what will my legacy be and I
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think this is a question that every Muslim needs to ask themselves and we have seen this across uh
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history uh with someone leaving a water well uh or a fountain as something that the concept of a
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a continuous charity even after your death your uh your action is not going to be discontinued
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um and you see this with uh inventions like or ibas or uh different but people have different
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abilities and I think we need to acknowledge that yes uh and uh you have uh this different gradient
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that you you did talk about but the question for each individual is what and these are uh
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the ultimate questions that every human has asked why are we on this Earth where did we come from
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and where where are we heading to and I think this gives one uh what do you want to be remembered by
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after you leave this D yeah what will continue for yourself uh and in that sense yes not everyone is
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a leader uh not everyone might take this uh this position but I think the umah today needs to come
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together to choose a way uh forward through some form of uh uh leadership how this happens is uh
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I've discussed this with some Scholars that the problem even theoretically we're not talking about
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this today uh the end of nation states we're talking about the end of the idea of a nation
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state we're talking about uh various different things that will bring uh people together and I
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think if Islam does not provide an alternative then we're going to go into a new form of Jah
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that will take for maybe another Century before things change yeah uh so I think it is both a
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collective and an individual responsibility for the um to come together uh and each one within his
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own ability to do what he can in order to we that we move things forward and how important is it for
Recharging in Ramadan?
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um for us in Ramadan because of course um uh you know a number of people would say that in Ramadan
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we want to uh we want to charge our batteries we want to uh develop our spiritual connection with
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Allah subhana wa ta'ala and that keeps us rooted right yes uh but of course there is a genocide
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taking place and there are uh problems around the world and and the um is in is in D straight so um
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you know is there a is it acceptable for one to concentrate at least in one month on one uh the
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exclusion of of other the other I don't think that is acceptable islamically or ethically uh and I'll
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give you a few examples uh we mentioned that the major uh fat or uh victories of Islam took place
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in the month of Ramadan yeah uh and this you can see it fromal to the fat of andus to uh the fat
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of mecah to various different things and if it's if it was and the month of Ramadan is the month of
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change I completely agree uh but it's both at the individual level and at the um level right uh and
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I think we need to we have and I personally in the month of Ramadan you want forgiveness from
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Allah you want that re to recharge your battery you want to feel Ean and you want to increase
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all of this but at the same time we have neged nected uh and last Ramadan was one of the most
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difficult uh seeing a genocide continue while the umah is enjoying large feasts and the Muslims are
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dying out of hunger that does not befit the umah of Muhammad and if you put that in this context
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actually I I I felt ashamed eating and drinking while they're starving yeah and uh uh that
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discontinuity between the individual and his umah and this selfish uh Muslim that is within
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us I think we need to move away from that if and I give this example if it was wasallam stranded
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in uh for the 3 years and you're saying well I'll fast and drink and and and do this uh while and
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the Muslims are dying out of hunger do you think Allah is going to accept your fasting and I'll give you an amazing example of IM har who when Al fell to the Crusaders uh those who survived
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the the genocide in ALA escaped to Damascus and the Imam IM Hari was the IM there and he said the
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Amir of Damascus is hopeless let's go to Bagdad to the Khalifa uh so they head there and it was
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the month of Ramadan and the Khalifa is busy with uh you know ifar programs like we like
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we do uh with lavish meals and this so he asks to meet the khif and they say well in the month
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of Ramadan he's too busy he doesn't have time for you I have important things to discuss come after
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Ramadan so he goes to the main in bdad he speaks to the they say you give the of and he says how
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indifferent the Muslims are at his time this is 900 years ago and he sees the Muslims living their
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life like nothing has happened so he goes on the member in the month of Ramadan and he breaks his
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fast in front of everyone and that shocks everyone what are you doing you're F you this and you know
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Muslims are really good at calling names and he says what I've done is nothing next to what
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you're doing whilea is under occupation there is no more the wording are incredible it's more of a
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religious Duty than H than fasting and praying in the month of Ramadan to liberate Al and that gives
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a big shake to the people they the police had arrived the sh and they take him and then they
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take him to the khif and the khif then listens to him and he says well I don't have sufficient
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Army to go with you but you can see how Imam Hari shook the Muslims and I think we need that shake
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he used fasting which is the personal and he uses some something another analogy to break your fast
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in the month of Ramadan deliberately the kafar to atone for it you have to fast 60 continue
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days but what is the kafar of the um what is the atonement when Al is under occupation and
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he wanted to make that analogy I'm willing to fast two months uh continuously but I want you to wake
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up uh and he it wasn't just him all the people that came with him he told them break your fast
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in front of everyone so he would make that scene and I think this is uh if s Al wasallam was with
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us today would he be happy with the status we're in and I you ask I I ask this to students and uh
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to the audience is any Muslim today happy with the situation of the umah you will not get anyone
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saying they're happy with it so going back to the Sunnah of Allah if you don't change it Allah is
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not going to change it for you the job of us is to collectively uh come together and be able to be
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an instrument of change to end this uh situation that we're in I remember the Kad Hari uh example
Capitalism and courage?
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I remember reading this and I think the Khalifa in Bagdad he began to cry yeah and he said something
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like the worst weapon of a Believer is to cry when the war rapers of War fight yeah I think
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that's a it's a fantastic example actually uh to to raise here um so then how important is courage
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because of course um I come across so many Muslims who who are like you and I who are very unhappy
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with what's happened in Gaza and they they feel a a sense of unease towards that but but at the same
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time they have work and they have families and they have houses you know to pay and they have
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rent to pay and they have so it's a very you know the burdens of Life capitalism makes you into a
24:54
slave of of a system which which uh you know most people are Liv in paycheck to paycheck yes uh and
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so there is a fear that if we speak out uh we're going to uh jeopardize our standing and our lives
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and our careers and our our positions and whatever whatever we've so how important is courage like
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give us some some understanding of where courage comes into this whole conversation yeahi wasallam
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on this he constantly uh encourages that a Muslim is never s silent and I completely agree with you
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we have become a slave to the system and many people have paid heavy prices since uh the
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7th of October speaking against what is happening and the genocide that has taking place and I have
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seen many examples of people who have been forced out of their jobs and so on but and I I gave this
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example numerous times and uh thei of wasallam uh that the problem that the umah is is currently in
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is because of Wan and this heart disease Wan is the love of D and fear of death and you put this
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on the scale no one's going to change the time you die and no one can increase or decrease your
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risk right if you have full submission to Allah T then you know nothing will ever nothing will ever
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change what Allah has decreed for you and this is what gave courage to the sahaba you see the sahaba
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on the battlefield they are in the battlefield and uh in their lives they're taking risks that
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are you might say is this a calculated risk or is it un sometimes KH uh was bordering between
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sometimes bravery and Insanity to a to a sense where he has nothing to fear and this is part
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of Islam's sense of T surrendering your will to Allah subhana wa tala and you see this in
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the people OFA they say if Allah has written us uh to become Shah we're waiting for our turn and
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this full T we believe in it theoretically but we do not live it so the concept of risk no one
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will change your risk and no one will change before you were even born Allah has already decreed the time you will die so why your sustenance yes yes the sustenance so in a
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sense without uh uh this this uh sustenance and the time of your death no one will ever
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change them yeah uh but this should then give you courage that if you do not fear death or
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risk sustenance then you are uh able to stand up against the tyrants and wasallam says the greatest
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uh the greatest Jihad is to stand in front of a tyrant and tell him off and he kills you and you
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might say well this is really stupid but the idea is that you never accept Injustice and that's why
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wasallam says a Believer would never be silent uh if you see an injustice you change it with
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your hand you stand up and you stop it if you're unable to do that then you do it with your tongue
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so you speak against it if you're unable to do that then the minimum is to to dislike it with
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your heart but says this is the lowest form of IM and this is not something that wants you to be at
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he wants you to change it with your tongue you stand up against Injustice and you speak against it or you stop it with your hand um and we see these examples that courage is something
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that Islam instills in you but today and I uh sadly say this Muslims have become very passive
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afraid uh as you have described them within this capitalist Society where we don't want
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to take risks and this is a big problem and you see Dua of and this Dua really is incredible he
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says I seek refuge in Allah from the uh inability of of a Believer and the uh ability or the heart
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the striving of a disbeliever and you see this on numerous aspects uh and when Omar becomes a Muslim
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the Muslims are hiding in the house of alam and he says to them are we not on the right path they
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say yes are they not on the wrong path yes then why do you accept to be in this position stand up
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and Omar changed one individual changed the face of Islam in a sense yeah um so in that in in that
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the courage uh that is uh is needed is something that Islam instills in us and gives you guarantees
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that nothing will happen unless Allah has willed it and and I'll finish with this Dua with this
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Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam telling a child a young boy IB Abbas he says to
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him I want to teach you a few words protect Allah Allah will protect you uh protect Allah Allah will
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you will find him by your side if you ask only ask of Allah if uh you uh want help seek it only from
31:22
Allah and know if the whole world was to gather against you to harm you they will not harm you
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unless Allah has decreed it for you and know if the whole world was together to bring you a
31:35
single benefit they will not benefit you unless Allah has decreed for you and he says the Pens
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have been lifted and the ink has dried meaning meaning the concept of predestiny um so this uh
31:51
linked with a a saying of the great aah show Allah the best in you uh and this is something I think
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Will has given the sahabah courage and I think the umah and we today need that courage that's
32:11
really really fascinating so show Allah the best in you so yes what does it mean then to be a good
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Muslim like just paint me a picture of an ideal Muslim yes an ideal Muslim is not someone who is
32:28
in constant state of worship which is how we picture someone who stands up and uh makes theud
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for uh 10 hours a night you need this for the self-discipline this is how told theah yes but he
32:44
told them this in order to be a an agent of change in the world right you need that discipline to
32:53
change but the sahab of who is a good Muslim they say to when we are with you our IM is so strong
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and when we go home and we go back to our lives our IM goes down andas uh the answer is incredible
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he says if your Iman is constantly at this high level then Allah will bring down the angels from
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the skies and they will shake your hands meaning that you become an angel and Islam is not about
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that exactly the opposite and Allah gives us the example of Adam um andam says every son of Adam
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every child of Adam uh is a sinner and the best of the Sinners are those who repent so this constant
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level the perfect Muslim is the one that makes a mistakes learns from the mistakes and improves
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that is how wasallam and the Quran teaches us the sahab we I we romanticize how the sahabah were
34:02
when you look at the sahaba they were human beings that made mistakes and these mistakes are mistakes
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that they learned from uh we think the sahabah were the ideal generation they are that they were
34:17
sinless they they were not uh they were the ideal generation brought up by the best man but amongst
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them those who sinned and they were brought to alai wasallam and a man constantly came drunk
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they would he would be brought a sahabi constantly drunk in front of wasallam and one of the sahab
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cursed him got so angry and he says this man loves Allah and his messenger so sometimes we think of
34:47
Islam in for in the sense of Utopia but that doesn't exist and the perfect Muslim is the one
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that the concept of trial and error you find how you can attain the best level uh of your Islam
35:10
through constant change so sometimes you think of yourself it is yes you need that discipline but at
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the same time it's about changing the world that you're in and the sahab that raised in Mecca they
35:28
they changed the world within a few years after the death ofam they had conquered makd North
35:37
Africa into Europe into andelo into China in the East into Africa into Anatolia and this was within
35:47
because Rah had instilled in them in this and they changed the whole world they brought a new world
35:52
order uh of justice and peace uh uh around uh around the world when the genocide in Gaza began
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I vowed we would never let those responsible get away with this silence was complicity in a
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scenes content and Q&A with me and my guests but most importantly your contri contributions will
37:28
make this voluntary project go to the next level and give you a share inshallah tala
37:34
in this reward now I know the demands on our sodaka are great please do consider becoming
37:40
a member of the thinking Muslim or send us your one-off donations by going to thinking muslim.com
37:46
membership and may Allah subhana wa tala accept from all of us
Change and spirituality
37:57
you said something really instructive there about how our T and our should be there to make
38:05
us agents of change can you expand expand on that because of course often when we think about tud it
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is about the self it's about ingratiating self or asking Allah subhana tala to help
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us with our predicaments and help us with which alhamdulillah we we of course have to Yes uh but
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you're linking the spiritual to becoming better agent for change like explain that L to me Allah
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tells he connects that spiritual with the action when wasam from the morning until the evening
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constantly making da to Islam this is in the mechan period when you get home stand up and
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ask Allah to give success to what you have done right and to improve it so you cannot detach that
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and the concept of Salah in Islam is linked to the word silah which means a connection between a
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human and his creator and today Salah has become a ritual that is void of any soul in it and IM
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gazali talks about this in such a beautiful way that our Salah has become just forms of
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uh action without without a soul and he says think of your Salah and I think in the month
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of Ramadan we need to really reflect on this and try to improve our Salah he think he says
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think about it as a gift a gift or a quban you are presenting to your lord and he gives the example
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of a horse imagine taking a dead horse to a King and presenting that as a gift to him what would
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he do to you and he says our Salah without is void of that and the concept is you're asking Allah to
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give so you're praying and you're asking Allah to give success to the actions that you have done in
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your life yeah or to guide you into a particular direction that you are able to to change things uh
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in in the better into a better world and this is how wasallam Allah commands him so this is
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theia Allah is given to his messenger when you finish your work then stand up and ask assistant
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from Allah so it's the cyclical process that you are constantly the spiritual with the action and
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you're constantly in that Circle so you're constantly trying to improve your personal
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connection with Allah and your connection with the people and changing the world and this is
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how we see Allah subhana wa ta'ala has taught to be and how reflected this on the sahab you have to
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constantly be in this constant change and I think the month of Ramadan is a month of discipline uh
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and it should help us to improve our relationship with Allah and our relationship with the creatures
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uh and the creation of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and make this world uh a better Place uh for
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everyone for every soul within I wrote an article recently and I sent it out on my newsletter subac
Escape society?
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and um it was actually a talk I gave to students uh motivating them to be active and to encourage
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them to get involved with uh guaza work and activism and of course as you know in fact you
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were here as a as a student in Britain um there has been a shift amongst University students
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uh where I don't know if this is fair but we become students become a bit more apolitical
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and quietist when it comes to activism anyway I wrote this uh uh piece which I I delivered to
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some students and someone got back to me who said that uh but there's Hadith which state
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that and and I'll give you a quick summary soon the best property of a Muslim will be a flock of sheep he takes to the top of a mountain or in The Valleys of rainfall fleeing with his religion from
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from his tribulations and I suppose the point he was making it was a very sincere Point yes but sometimes the world around you can affect you and give you anxiety and take you away from your
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dean and you and so the only pricee of a Believer is to escape the society and to find a a recourse
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which is to uh be alone uh or to be separated from the the worst of of the world um how do we
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it's a Hadith how do you respond to to this yes uh we all in our imagination think of ourselves
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on an island on our own away from I would love this yes yeah and as a child this is something
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in my head actually getting away from the world and just being away that will happen inshallah in
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Jenna you will enjoy that inshallah and I think our yearning to Jenna and coming from there I
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think puts that in our F that we want to be away from all the problems and enjoy uh things uh away
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from people but there is a saying in Arabic uh J without people you don't you can't set a foot in
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it um and wasallam in another Hadith he says the one that deals with people yeah and is patient
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from the harmness that they cause him is better than a believer that does not deal with people
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and is not patient doesn't have saber uh on the harm that they cause and I think this uh
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this Hadith if we continue it it talks about uh a better better than this is Jihad in the way of
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Allah subana wa tala so the sense of escaping is sometimes needed and I think even in the life of
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Scholars like Imam gazali there was a stage in his life where he escaped Society yeah and you
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need to move away and rethink your life you need to get at one stage in your life uh get into a
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state of where you rethink and you re uh model the life that you would like to live in uh so
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it's needed went through that himself and it's part of our but then decided he came down from
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the cave and he engaged with the people and it was very uh very harmful for wasallam and he went into
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very difficult times in his life dealing with people and being humiliated and crying to Allah
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subhana wa tala and you see this and we say the best example to us Isam if that was um uh what
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would always tell us to do maybe there is a stage in your life where you need to escape
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rethink your life but it's not about living away you have to come down and Challenge and change the
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world that you're living and this is how what we learn from wasallam uh you go down and you fight
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and you challenge and you change the world to a better place to be and this is what achieved
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this is what the sahaba may Allah be pleased with them achieved this is what we have seen throughout
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Muslim history uh is this constant struggle uh with uh the system that has been established um
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and changing it and taking it back to how Allah would want us to to live our life in this dun one
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final question for you um when we engage with this with the world activism Society Justice we want to
Islamic advice on self-reflection
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change the world around us um inevitably we're going to find faults in ourselves we're going to
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find imperfections sometimes big imperfections in ourselves impatience um you know uh egoism
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maybe you know these personal traits which um May uh take you astray from uh from the right way of
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doing things or make you feel that at the center of of the work because you're gaining results um
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how do we reflect and build a mentality where we reflect on these uh problematic traits within us
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that we all have you know um like what are the mechanisms that Islam gives us to uh to self-renew
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when we uh when we uh create these frictions uh between the the world around us and ourselves
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and our NS yeah W these are very deep uh questions and uh I was discussing this with um some brothers
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recently and it was really it is really a problem um for ourselves uh and how do we move forward and
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the answer that I I personally went through uh growing up and having these problems is you get
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to a point which IM Al gazali talks about about in his uh uh books is you get to a stage where you're
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doing it solely for Allah whether you're praised or whether you are criticized it doesn't make a
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difference because your goal is Allah's pleasure with you Allah being pleased with uh what with
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what you're doing but the thing is some people will say then I should stop I shouldn't do it
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and until I perfect myself there isn't a perfect individual right and I think this is part of the
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struggle yeah we need to constantly get into that uh uh Jihad with the naps and this is a
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very difficult thing sometimes yes ego comes into the place I want position a form of leadership I
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want this I want that and I think the best way to do this is to to bring humility to yourself and we
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see this across uh the when they uh one beautiful example is uh a modern example shik shawi of Egypt
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and when he felt wow you know I become a uh a minister uh of a and he told his driver stop
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and he went outside the Masjid he went down and he went went and he disappeared for about half
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an hour 40 minutes and he started looking for him and he was cleaning the toilet the idea is know
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if your NS and was the best in this if you think too highly of yourself then humilate yourself in
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in in in in ways that will bring you down to uh uh your your your your real place and no
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connecting this with another Point sometimes we think Allah needs us you know sometimes we think
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I am the one that's doing this for uh Islam and the best amazing example is nin zinki nin zinki
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and the Battle of har in the month of Ramadan he makes a Dua and this Dua really shakes me
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he cries to Allah subhana wa tala and he says Ya Allah give Victory to your dean and not to
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Mahmud the dog who is Mahmud the dog to for you to give Victory to him and he brings it you know
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sometimes can you make D like this n Mahmud who is one of the most amazing Muslim leaders
50:45
in history he was Pi Pious and at the same time he was uh in every sense he was a great leader uh
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and you see him humilating himself in front of Allah and this is something sometimes we need
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we need to bring ourselves down and know that uh as one of the scholars say know that What You're
51:10
Made Of and Allah reminds us of this inah uh that you're created from a sperm you're created know
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your position sometimes this ego thing you need to to be able to to do this and the best time is
51:26
Ramadan Ramadan gives you that balance it makes you think I can stay away from food and drink the
51:36
self discipline use that in your life use that to improve uh uh the quality uh of the life that you
51:49
are living in the way of Allah subhana wa tala one final question to to uh to to build on that um we
Life of obscurity?
51:58
do come across at the time of the sahaba there are individual Muslims while the while the Jihad is
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happening while the expansion is happening while the Muslims are involved in society but you will
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get yes some individual Muslims who do withdraw at the time of Omar I remember there was one man who
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uh became quite popular because he was able to you know his Dua was very special and so he moved away
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yes completely from the society in order to live a life was in order to live a life of obscurity
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cuz he did not want to be um and and maybe we all want to be like that right like what is the in a
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sense these examples show that you may get these anomalies okay fine they're not Society they're not the majority is there I suppose a problem with yearning for that level of obscurity uh with with
52:53
him he was afraid of the fitna that that would happen with that wasallam told Omar uh there will
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come this man from Yen if you see him ask him to ask Allah for forgiveness for you for Omar wow so
53:11
uh when people found out this everyone wants to go to him and ask him make Dua that Allah forgives me
53:18
and he did not want to be in that Limelight and he his relationship with Allah is not this uh
53:26
I uh will want and this is the unnamed what we call the unnamed soldiers and you see this
53:35
with a lot of the sahaba is one in one of the battles a great warrior fighting but had his
53:43
face covered I don't want to be doing this for people I want to be doing it for Allah yeah and
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I think this is the question that we need to ask ourself but on that point Allah gives us a very important example in the Quran inah the three people that did not participate with in
54:05
tabuk yeah and these were sahab ofh wasallam yeah and their punishment was so grave that
54:16
even their families boycotted them and their wives left them based on them letting down is
54:26
Islam what did they do they didn't participate in the battle whenas said it was an obligation
54:34
upon every Muslim yeah the MF are another level they they weren't accounted for but I think this
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is putting all our conversation together is when you are needed and you let Islam down
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your punishment is going to be so grave yeah and I think the example of the three Allah mentions inah
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because they let down and you ask yourself if you have let Allah and his messenger down
55:08
or you have done everything in your ability so going back to how much we are doing uh if you
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are able to revive the um ande your ability to do something in a particular way yeah and you
55:21
haven't done it then as uh Imam says you have committed treason to Allah and his messenger
55:30
W okay and his words are so heavy he says if a scholar enters a city where Zena is prevalent
55:41
and he talks about something else he talks about RBA another Haram thing then he has
55:46
committed treason to Allah and his messenger and I think this is everyone needs to find that balance
55:53
uh but within our conversation today we've been thinking out loud so some of the uh the thoughts
55:59
maybe need a little improving and need maybe to be thought and the your uh podcast being the
56:09
thinking Muslim we've been thinking together so I might not have answered some of the questions in
56:16
the right way but uh I hope uh it opens a way for us to think outside the box and to think
56:26
think what can we do and for each one of us to strive in that process of thinking and pondering
56:35
and seeing how we can improve our personal uh the umah and Humanity at large and I think this
56:45
is why Allah has created Adam and humans is to put the three together uh and without this connection
56:56
I think our lives are meaningless um and inshallah Allah guides us into and we make this Dua every
57:06
day guide us to the straight path and may Allah guide this um into uh the right direction that
57:14
we go back to what our role is is the leadership of humanity insh insh we look I I think really
57:24
this has been a thought-provoking conversation I'm really glad to have this conversation with you today and thank you so much for your time when the genocide in Gaza began I vowed we would
57:37
never let those responsible get away with this silence was complicity in a world that wants us
57:43
to remain Placid a world that wants us to be concerned more about our immediate lives and
57:49
interests the system buys our souls in return for acquiescence with their empire building project
57:57
we at the thinking Muslim said about changing the narrative and in the process with Allah's Baraka
58:04
we Galvanize our communities to confront these political Elites and send them a clear message
58:10
in elections on both sides of the Atlantic we brought communities together and led the
58:16
way encountering their pernicious agenda such is the power of this New Media our mission is simple
58:26
we want to build an alternative Muslim media one that is rooted in faith thinking and enlightened
58:33
activism and we need your help to expand this sacred undertaking our plan is to turn the
58:41
thinking Muslim into a multi-show multicountry media project please help us by becoming a
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member for as little as £10 a month you have access to bonus shows behind the scenes content
58:56
and Q&A with me and my guests but most importantly your contributions will make
59:02
this voluntary project go to the next level and give you a share inshallah tala in this
59:08
reward now I know the demands on our sodaka are great please do consider becoming a member of
59:14
the thinking Muslim or send us your one-off donations by going to thinking muslim.com
59:20
membership and may Allah subhana wa ta'ala accept from all of
59:26
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