Seminar: Does Religion Make Life Meaningless? Islam's Response to Nietzsche (2021-10-31) ​

0:00:04 brothers and sisters
0:00:06 i hope everyone is well insha allah
0:00:10 so today inshallah we're going to be
0:00:12 discussing
0:00:13 or covering the topic does religion make
0:00:17 life meaningless
0:00:19 now this may sound strange
0:00:22 to some of us right because we've
0:00:23 probably
0:00:25 not come across this or we may think
0:00:27 well how does that make sense you know
0:00:29 islam is supposed to give you life
0:00:30 meaning you know we're told of the
0:00:32 purpose of life in islam
0:00:34 religion in general
0:00:36 you know one of the fundamental things
0:00:38 it tries to address and answer is the
0:00:40 meaning and purpose of life
0:00:42 however
0:00:44 there are several atheists even today
0:00:47 academics
0:00:49 online atheists
0:00:51 who make this claim
0:00:53 what they say
0:00:55 when challenged about the ultimate
0:00:58 meaning of life or the ultimate purpose
0:00:59 of life on atheism or naturalism they
0:01:01 turn around
0:01:03 and they say
0:01:05 or they try to try to turn the tables
0:01:07 and say well look you know
0:01:09 it's not atheism or naturalism that life
0:01:12 makes life meaningless it's actually
0:01:14 religion religion makes life meaningless
0:01:17 and then when you ask them how they say
0:01:20 something along the lines of well look
0:01:23 you guys believe in a paradise you guys
0:01:26 believe in the hereafter you guys
0:01:27 believe in an eternal world
0:01:30 and therefore this life is pointless
0:01:34 so you'll hear these types of arguments
0:01:35 and now what we're going to do today is
0:01:36 we're going to not only address this
0:01:38 question but we're going to go try to go
0:01:40 get to the root of this idea
0:01:44 and discuss this in a lot more detail
0:01:46 inshallah what we'll do at the end is
0:01:47 we'll do a q a
0:01:49 for everyone walakum salam to everyone
0:01:51 that's joining or join this live stream
0:01:54 so let me switch screens
0:01:56 so you guys can see this slides better
0:01:58 inshallah
0:02:00 so where does this idea come from
0:02:03 that
0:02:03 religion makes life meaningless where
0:02:06 does where does this stem from
0:02:08 now
0:02:10 we'd have to go too far back
0:02:13 it was actually nietzsche
0:02:15 nietzsche
0:02:17 who was an existentialist philosopher he
0:02:21 bro a lot on the idea of true worlds as
0:02:24 you refer to them as or actual worlds
0:02:26 actual realities
0:02:28 and
0:02:29 he
0:02:30 proposed that and we're going to discuss
0:02:32 this so i'll explain what true worlds
0:02:34 are we're going we'll get into the
0:02:35 details of that but he
0:02:37 after studying true worlds and true
0:02:39 world theories
0:02:40 which emerged from different religions
0:02:42 and different groups of people
0:02:43 throughout history
0:02:45 prevalent the idea of true worlds was
0:02:47 prevalent throughout history it wasn't
0:02:48 only restricted to
0:02:51 religious people it was it was something
0:02:53 you found found amongst the philosophers
0:02:55 if anything as we'll see
0:02:56 it was
0:02:57 or the the origins of true world has
0:02:59 been ascribed to philosophers of the
0:03:01 past
0:03:03 now he analyzed these he studied these
0:03:06 and he was an atheist and his conclusion
0:03:09 based on his study of true worlds in
0:03:11 particular the study of christianity and
0:03:14 the christian conception of the true
0:03:16 world the hereafter was referred to as
0:03:18 heaven
0:03:19 he came to the conclusion
0:03:22 that
0:03:24 true worlds
0:03:25 the religious answer
0:03:27 doesn't cut it according to him what he
0:03:29 said was that no religion actually
0:03:31 removes meaning from life
0:03:33 now we're going to study this we're
0:03:34 going to go through this we're going to
0:03:35 see whether his claim was true was he
0:03:37 correct was he wrong
0:03:38 does this apply to all religions does
0:03:40 this apply to islam
0:03:42 now
0:03:44 before we do this like i said we need to
0:03:46 really sort of understand this whole
0:03:47 idea of true worlds and really get into
0:03:49 this discussion a bit
0:03:50 so what are true worlds i'm just going
0:03:52 to summarize it for you there's many
0:03:53 different conceptions of cruel worlds
0:03:55 uh but i think this sort of rough
0:03:58 definition i give you here will suffice
0:04:00 for what we're discussing today
0:04:02 a true world is a parallel world it's a
0:04:04 parallel world which exists alongside
0:04:07 this physical material reality
0:04:09 it's one which may be eternal especially
0:04:12 according to religious traditions
0:04:14 christianity in particular
0:04:16 and obviously islam judaism but when it
0:04:19 comes to judaism there's some very
0:04:20 interesting ideas amongst the jews these
0:04:22 days in regards to the hereafter and the
0:04:24 nature of heaven and hell but again we
0:04:26 don't need to get into the discussion of
0:04:27 that maybe you can touch upon that in
0:04:28 the q a
0:04:30 and the third thing is
0:04:32 it's a world in which
0:04:34 you discover or find meaning true
0:04:37 meaning
0:04:39 so essentially believing in a true world
0:04:42 gives life meaning
0:04:44 and it's a world which is again from a
0:04:46 religious perspective from nietzsche's
0:04:48 perspective looking at particularly from
0:04:50 the from from christianity it's a world
0:04:53 promise to the virtuous
0:04:56 now
0:05:00 here is a bit of a history
0:05:01 uh in regards to true worlds and here's
0:05:03 how nietzsche broke down uh the sort of
0:05:05 history and psychology of true worlds in
0:05:08 his book the twilight of idols the
0:05:09 antichrist
0:05:12 you can look at his three distinct
0:05:14 stages the first he referred to plato
0:05:16 plato was a philosopher in ancient times
0:05:19 now plato
0:05:21 proposed the idea of true worlds by
0:05:23 referring to a world which shows the
0:05:25 world of forms as you refer to as a
0:05:27 world of forms it was the actual reality
0:05:30 and this was if you like a
0:05:33 you could say a mirror image of it a
0:05:35 glimpse of it but it wasn't this world
0:05:38 that we're in right now that we're
0:05:39 functioning in that we're living in that
0:05:41 we're experiencing wasn't the true world
0:05:43 this was a temporary
0:05:45 world and the true world was another
0:05:47 reality but according to the
0:05:49 philosophers as nietzsche noted
0:05:50 according to them it was not only
0:05:53 a true world as referred to by plato as
0:05:56 the world of forms but it was a world
0:05:57 that could be experienced by people of
0:05:59 wisdom people of knowledge people of
0:06:01 insight so there was so according to
0:06:03 plato you could interact with this world
0:06:06 you can you can access this world
0:06:08 now according to niche
0:06:11 this was the origins of the idea and
0:06:13 although this could be discussed because
0:06:14 there were many other
0:06:16 you know
0:06:17 religious groups or people that existed
0:06:19 that did believe in true worlds but if
0:06:20 we go by
0:06:22 nietzsche's understanding in regards to
0:06:24 the or origins if you like the
0:06:26 predominant origins of the idea of true
0:06:28 worlds
0:06:29 it started with the greek philosophers
0:06:32 and then the religions took hold of in
0:06:34 particular christianity and what
0:06:36 according to nietzsche happened was that
0:06:37 christianity developed this idea it used
0:06:39 it as a base and it developed this
0:06:40 further and instead of calling it the
0:06:43 world of forms it became heaven right
0:06:46 paradise
0:06:47 so he referred to and the difference
0:06:49 here was nietzsche noted there was a
0:06:51 degradation in this
0:06:53 whole process of a kind which was
0:06:55 according to the philosophers it was a
0:06:57 world that could be experienced that you
0:06:59 could actually engage with certain
0:07:01 people could engage with an experience
0:07:03 but according to christianity now it was
0:07:05 a world that existed but it wasn't a
0:07:07 world
0:07:08 you could
0:07:09 go into
0:07:10 or experience but it was a potential it
0:07:13 was something you could acquire
0:07:15 after death
0:07:17 right now nietzsche's idea was and
0:07:19 according to his thought experiment that
0:07:21 if this was to continue and he was
0:07:23 predicting the future that we were
0:07:24 moving now towards
0:07:26 where there will be another
0:07:28 a another if you like uh
0:07:31 development in the concept of true
0:07:33 worlds which is the post-enlightenment
0:07:35 post-scientific revolution
0:07:38 development and that will take the form
0:07:40 of all
0:07:41 first they started off with a true world
0:07:43 which existed and could be engaged with
0:07:45 then in christianity it was a true world
0:07:47 that existed but couldn't be engaged
0:07:48 with and then finally is going to be
0:07:51 no true worlds they don't exist the only
0:07:53 reality that exists is the material
0:07:55 reality the physical reality what we can
0:07:57 see around us where we're existing right
0:07:59 now and therefore you can't engage with
0:08:01 it so there was people he was suggesting
0:08:03 and highlighting if you look at the
0:08:05 development of true worlds was that
0:08:06 people humanity was slowly and gradually
0:08:08 moving away from this idea of another
0:08:11 world another reality that's out there
0:08:14 so this was a very interesting insight
0:08:16 and it was true and many even have
0:08:18 claimed that you know he because of his
0:08:20 work on understanding true worlds he
0:08:23 made the prediction in his book the gay
0:08:26 science where he said god is dead
0:08:27 something we covered
0:08:28 quite extensively in the previous
0:08:29 seminar last week
0:08:31 so
0:08:32 this
0:08:33 was his sort of conception and idea of
0:08:35 the development of true worlds how they
0:08:36 came about why they came about so we're
0:08:38 going to touch upon that a little bit
0:08:39 more
0:08:42 nietzsche and other philosophers also
0:08:44 understood the
0:08:45 the the psychology behind true walls as
0:08:47 they pointed out was well humanity
0:08:49 needed to
0:08:50 find meaning we have to find meaning we
0:08:52 have to know what our meaning is we have
0:08:54 to find out what the ultimate purpose of
0:08:56 existence is
0:08:57 so because of this innate urge
0:09:00 they proposed human beings came up with
0:09:02 the idea of true worlds another world
0:09:04 that's out there
0:09:06 that we can achieve that we can reach
0:09:08 that's the true world that's the true
0:09:10 goal that is the true meaning of our
0:09:12 existence to attain that reality
0:09:16 so nietzsche what he was doing
0:09:17 essentially he was dismissing
0:09:20 this idea
0:09:22 by pointing out that something human
0:09:24 beings make up out of need and this is
0:09:26 not a novel
0:09:28 uh
0:09:29 approach that nietzsche took many other
0:09:31 thinkers philosophers economists at the
0:09:32 time
0:09:34 also and after him all sorts of use this
0:09:36 type of approach to dismiss the
0:09:38 hereafter by saying well it's something
0:09:40 people concoct up they make up because
0:09:43 there's an innate urge to seek out
0:09:45 meaning for you know not only seek out
0:09:47 meaning but for life to continue
0:09:49 and so on and so forth so they tried to
0:09:51 dismiss it in this way freud did the
0:09:52 same marx had a very similar approach as
0:09:55 well when he his famous quote about you
0:09:57 know religion being the opium of the
0:09:58 people
0:09:59 you know one of the ways that could be
0:10:01 understood is that you know religion
0:10:05 really makes human beings
0:10:08 complacent according to them and what we
0:10:10 mean by this is well
0:10:12 if you you know if you want people to do
0:10:14 well socially and economically well they
0:10:16 need to have an impetus they have to
0:10:17 have that motivation and drive to do
0:10:19 well but what religion does it dampens
0:10:21 that because a religious person is
0:10:24 comfortable
0:10:25 even if he has less in this world
0:10:27 because he's looking forward to the true
0:10:29 world he's looking forward to the
0:10:30 reality in the hereafter right so this
0:10:32 obviously wasn't going to go down too
0:10:34 well and then and freud again being a
0:10:36 psychologist he attacked the idea of
0:10:38 religion god and all of these things
0:10:40 from a psychological perspective
0:10:42 pointing out well it's a psychological
0:10:44 need of a human being that's being
0:10:46 fulfilled by the human being making up
0:10:48 this idea over hereafter and god and so
0:10:50 on and so forth
0:10:51 so this was sort of nietzsche's
0:10:54 perspective in regards to true worlds
0:10:55 now there's a few important points that
0:10:57 we need to know here guys which is
0:10:59 nietzsche did not reject the idea of
0:11:01 true worlds based on evidence right it
0:11:03 was purely based on utility
0:11:06 now this is important to realize this
0:11:07 because he even mentions in his book
0:11:09 human or all too human he says it is
0:11:11 true
0:11:12 there could be a metaphysical world the
0:11:15 absolute possibility of it is hardly to
0:11:17 be disputed so he wasn't someone
0:11:19 that was on an evidential basis denying
0:11:22 that there's a hereafter that there's
0:11:24 another reality to come that and these
0:11:26 types of things
0:11:27 he was simply denying it because he felt
0:11:30 there wasn't any utility in such a idea
0:11:31 it didn't help as i mentioned earlier
0:11:33 this idea that believing in a hereafter
0:11:35 gave humanity purpose and meaning
0:11:38 he believed well no this is not the case
0:11:41 and he suggested well if you're just
0:11:44 looking forward to hereafter well then
0:11:45 what's the point of this life
0:11:46 essentially that's what he was saying
0:11:48 and therefore he actually stripped away
0:11:50 all meaning from life you're just
0:11:51 sitting there waiting to die so you can
0:11:53 go and start your real life
0:11:56 and he found this
0:11:58 troubling he said well it's
0:11:59 you you've got more meaning on atheism
0:12:01 because from the atheist perspective at
0:12:03 the very least you can say well fine
0:12:05 there is no ultimate meaning to life
0:12:07 there is no there is no purpose to life
0:12:10 however this is the only life that we
0:12:12 have there is no other world out there
0:12:13 there is no other reality out there so
0:12:15 therefore it's sort of in a in a
0:12:17 roundabout way we can sort of justify it
0:12:20 making sense that therefore we should
0:12:21 make the most of this life and and
0:12:23 what that means is another discussion
0:12:25 you know but however it gives us the
0:12:26 impetus to act in this world and give
0:12:29 ourselves meaning or even if it's making
0:12:31 up meaning
0:12:33 but at least it's
0:12:34 it's it's a far more robust idea than
0:12:37 the religious idea now
0:12:38 he wasn't necessarily wrong
0:12:41 if you consider christianity and we have
0:12:44 to remember nietzsche's
0:12:46 predominant engagement was with the
0:12:48 christian world right he said some
0:12:50 things about islam he seems to based on
0:12:52 the you know
0:12:53 the statements he's made in regards to
0:12:54 islam it seems like he did look into
0:12:56 islam to a degree but obviously he
0:12:59 didn't look into islam in regards to
0:13:01 what islam has to say about the
0:13:03 hereafter about what he referred to as
0:13:05 true worlds because if he had he
0:13:07 probably would have changed his mind on
0:13:09 on a lot of things
0:13:10 and but again we'll discuss it in a lot
0:13:12 more detail in the slides that are
0:13:13 coming up so the other note we have to
0:13:15 the thing that we need to keep in mind
0:13:17 and this is an interesting point
0:13:18 nietzsche also saw
0:13:20 the negative consequences of rejecting
0:13:22 the idea of a true world
0:13:24 now for example in the twilight of idols
0:13:26 he states the true world
0:13:28 we have abolished
0:13:29 what world has remained the apparent one
0:13:32 perhaps but no with the true world we
0:13:35 have also abolished the apparent world
0:13:38 so this is a very interesting statement
0:13:40 and again it links in with some of the
0:13:42 other claims that he made for example in
0:13:44 the gay science where you know when he
0:13:46 makes the the famous statement god is
0:13:48 dead and we again i really recommend you
0:13:50 guys to go and watch that live
0:13:52 seminar from last week because
0:13:54 you'll get a lot more context in regards
0:13:55 to what we're discussing here now
0:13:57 but it was very interesting in that
0:13:59 whole passage in the gay science the
0:14:00 passage of the madman
0:14:03 it becomes very apparent that when he is
0:14:05 announcing god is dead it's not a proud
0:14:08 atheist proclamation
0:14:10 it's actually a warning
0:14:12 you know that we've killed god but
0:14:15 everything's going to be in shambles you
0:14:16 know we're not going to be able to make
0:14:18 sense of reality and he gives some
0:14:19 really powerful analogies of the earth
0:14:21 being removed from you know the orbit of
0:14:23 the sun you know
0:14:25 of there being no up no down no
0:14:27 direction you know so he he alludes to
0:14:30 the point that we're going to lose all
0:14:31 our direction we're going to lose up our
0:14:33 bearings essentially because throughout
0:14:35 history humanity has always grounded
0:14:37 themselves through the conception of god
0:14:39 the conception of a hereafter a true
0:14:42 world as he called it
0:14:43 but now that we're removing this and
0:14:45 we're turning away from this we're going
0:14:47 to have big issues and problems huge
0:14:48 issues and problems
0:14:50 so he realized this although he
0:14:52 denounced himself the idea of true world
0:14:54 so i thought that was a very interesting
0:14:56 sort of
0:14:56 double position i i don't know if you
0:14:58 and another thing was well he said on
0:15:00 one hand so this is overlapping the
0:15:02 point on one hand he believed that a
0:15:04 true world did not provide meaning to
0:15:06 humanity and on the other hand he
0:15:08 realized that it would lead to nihilism
0:15:10 so this was a very i don't know if you
0:15:11 can call it a contradiction because if
0:15:13 you think about it
0:15:16 maybe as a philosopher for himself
0:15:18 someone that's you know
0:15:19 really thought about these things and
0:15:21 and spent time pondering over these
0:15:23 things
0:15:24 he realized that if you remove the
0:15:26 conception of god and the hereafter
0:15:28 that's going to lead people to nihilism
0:15:29 and that's an inevitable outcome
0:15:32 however for the common person
0:15:34 they probably hadn't thought about it
0:15:36 like a philosopher so for them believing
0:15:38 in god believing in a true world as
0:15:40 nietzsche understood it it would still
0:15:41 lead to them having meaning and
0:15:43 grounding in life and morals and ethics
0:15:44 because you know it it they just made
0:15:47 the simple link the intuitive link
0:15:48 whereas according to niche someone like
0:15:50 him would have thought about it in much
0:15:52 more detail so if you think of it from
0:15:54 this perspective there's no real
0:15:55 contradiction here in a way where he's
0:15:57 realized some things but the common
0:15:58 person the common christian may not
0:16:00 realize these things
0:16:02 so considering these two things
0:16:06 again based predominantly from from the
0:16:08 perspective the christian worldview
0:16:10 he believed
0:16:12 religion christianity
0:16:14 the idea or the the christian conception
0:16:16 of a true world removed meaning from
0:16:19 life
0:16:19 now was he right in this claim
0:16:24 i would say
0:16:26 he was absolutely right
0:16:28 because if you look at
0:16:30 christianity
0:16:32 the theological idea that's presented
0:16:36 is you have to believe in jesus
0:16:39 and not only do you have to believe in
0:16:41 jesus and jesus's divinity however you
0:16:43 are to understand that
0:16:45 but you have to also acknowledge that
0:16:47 jesus died for your sins
0:16:51 so if jesus has died for your sins peace
0:16:52 be upon him
0:16:54 and now you're sinless essentially
0:16:57 and believing in him guarantees you
0:17:00 the the true world paradise heaven
0:17:04 well then
0:17:05 what do you have left to do on this
0:17:06 planet right i mean if you think about
0:17:08 it from this perspective there's nothing
0:17:10 much more to do
0:17:11 you're just biting time yeah so
0:17:14 you could see how niche came to this
0:17:16 conclusion and he was correct in this
0:17:18 regard
0:17:20 however brothers and sisters
0:17:23 like i said if he had taken the time to
0:17:25 venture further into islam and studied
0:17:27 islam and what islam says in regards to
0:17:29 this life and the hereafter and the
0:17:31 purpose of life
0:17:32 i don't think
0:17:34 nietzsche would have remained maybe he
0:17:36 wouldn't have remained an atheist it's
0:17:38 very possible he may have become muslim
0:17:41 allah knows best he could
0:17:43 as to what could have happened but what
0:17:45 was the case we know he died an atheist
0:17:47 he died insane
0:17:48 and you know it's i mean when you study
0:17:51 his life
0:17:52 it's you know it's it's a tragedy it
0:17:54 literally is he went through a lot of
0:17:55 ups and downs in his life he had an
0:17:57 illness you know a a
0:18:00 uh a lifelong illness which and you know
0:18:03 he fell in love with the woman and she
0:18:05 was a bit of a crackpot as well
0:18:08 meaning that she was a his student
0:18:10 initially and you know he wanted to
0:18:11 marry her and she didn't want to marry
0:18:14 him and she was she wanted to do
0:18:15 experimentation on relationships and all
0:18:17 of this type of stuff and she did a lot
0:18:19 of stuff on uh
0:18:21 you know the male and female
0:18:22 relationship but long story short he had
0:18:24 a he had a very sort of depressing life
0:18:26 now that probably obviously added to his
0:18:28 atheism along along with what we're
0:18:30 discussing right now but i'm digressing
0:18:31 that's another point but
0:18:33 if he had really looked into islam
0:18:34 brothers and sisters i think he would
0:18:36 have really changed his mind because
0:18:37 from the islamic perspective
0:18:39 sure we believe in jannah we believe in
0:18:41 jahannam we believe in what you would
0:18:42 call paradise and hellfire so therefore
0:18:45 we do have a conception of what he would
0:18:46 refer to as a true world
0:18:48 a eternal reality which is going to go
0:18:50 on forever we will live forever where
0:18:52 there will be no more hardships no more
0:18:53 trials noble tribulations there'll be
0:18:55 peace and tranquility
0:18:57 happiness and all of the things that we
0:18:58 want
0:19:00 but it's not as simple as that
0:19:02 you know we don't have an idea that
0:19:04 someone's come and died for your sins
0:19:05 and then you know that's it full stop
0:19:09 there is a beautiful
0:19:10 relationship between this life
0:19:13 and the hereafter and there is a there
0:19:15 is a very powerful link
0:19:17 and as we explore this link in more
0:19:20 detail we'll start to appreciate how
0:19:21 profound
0:19:23 and how
0:19:24 significant and meaningful this life is
0:19:27 from the islamic perspective it's not
0:19:28 just the case for a muslim that he's
0:19:30 waiting to die and then he'll get
0:19:32 paradise full stop doesn't work like
0:19:33 that
0:19:34 but let's start off with a very powerful
0:19:36 ayah in the quran chapter 51 verse 56
0:19:39 where allah says
0:19:41 that he did not create jinn and human
0:19:43 beings humankind for no other reason
0:19:45 except to worship him
0:19:49 they did not create us for any other
0:19:51 reason except to worship him now here
0:19:53 allah god is outlining
0:19:56 the purpose
0:19:57 of our existence
0:19:59 we
0:20:00 were created to worship our creator okay
0:20:03 so this is fundamental this is our
0:20:05 ultimate purpose
0:20:07 this is the reason for our existence
0:20:10 furthermore elaborates many other parts
0:20:11 of the quran but i think there's another
0:20:13 very interesting passage which gives us
0:20:14 more details in regards to
0:20:17 us existing in this world specifically
0:20:19 so we know what our purpose is as humans
0:20:22 but how does it now
0:20:25 build in and i you know
0:20:27 fit into us being in this world and
0:20:29 living and then dying
0:20:31 allah says for example in surah mulk in
0:20:33 the second ayah he says
0:20:35 and he is the one who created death and
0:20:38 life in order to test which of us are
0:20:40 best in deeds and he is the almighty the
0:20:42 all-forgiving now here allah is
0:20:44 informing us
0:20:45 that life and death he created our
0:20:48 essentially our existence in this world
0:20:50 so we're born into this world we live in
0:20:52 this world and then we die
0:20:55 so that he can test us
0:20:57 and see
0:20:58 which of us is best
0:21:00 in actions in deeds
0:21:03 in doing things essentially okay
0:21:05 now this further now gives us more
0:21:07 context in regards to what this life is
0:21:09 all about
0:21:11 but i think there's a very interesting
0:21:13 there's several links several links in
0:21:15 in regards to our specific purpose and
0:21:17 us being in this world and between these
0:21:19 two ayat here but one thing i was
0:21:21 reflecting upon early and something i
0:21:22 want to share with you guys is
0:21:26 throughout the quran
0:21:27 allah has mentioned an outline for us
0:21:29 clearly that
0:21:30 good deeds are only significant
0:21:33 and hold value
0:21:35 if they are paired with belief
0:21:38 with iman
0:21:41 without iman
0:21:43 good deeds the things that we do they're
0:21:44 just like you know dust the scatters
0:21:47 essentially
0:21:48 so
0:21:49 goodness what is a good good deed as we
0:21:52 define it as muslims it's it's linked in
0:21:54 with iman it encapsulates iman it has to
0:21:57 iman has to be present
0:21:59 right now if we keep this in mind
0:22:00 brothers and sisters and then we go back
0:22:02 to the ayah of chapter 51 verse 56 we
0:22:04 allah say he did not create this except
0:22:06 to worship him sorry the uh the next
0:22:08 chapter 67 ayah allah says that he
0:22:10 created life and death to test which of
0:22:12 us is best in deeds
0:22:14 in doing good deeds
0:22:16 then one way we can look at this is that
0:22:18 what allah is testing and seeing which
0:22:20 of us actually worships him properly
0:22:22 right because when we believe and we do
0:22:24 good deeds this is our worship of allah
0:22:26 this is us worshiping allah this is a
0:22:28 part of our worship
0:22:29 so it's all linked in in a very profound
0:22:31 way and there's many other links which
0:22:33 we can explore maybe in the q a section
0:22:34 inshallah so this sort of lays down the
0:22:36 foundation for us in regards to what
0:22:37 this life is all about
0:22:39 now how does this link specifically to
0:22:41 the hereafter what is the link here
0:22:44 well
0:22:45 islam makes a clear clear and meaningful
0:22:48 link between this life and the next
0:22:50 again throughout the quran but one
0:22:51 example here is in the fourth chapter of
0:22:53 the quran verse 124 allah says and
0:22:55 whoever does righteous deeds whether
0:22:57 male or female while being a believer
0:23:00 those will enter paradise and will not
0:23:02 be wronged even as much as a speck of a
0:23:05 date seed now here allah clearly
0:23:08 outlines for us the link between this
0:23:10 life
0:23:11 and the hereafter
0:23:13 this life we're not just here to sit
0:23:14 around
0:23:15 and
0:23:16 say the shahada and just wait to die
0:23:19 right we have to act
0:23:21 we have to act in this world and we have
0:23:23 to engage in this world and we have to
0:23:25 do good deeds in this world and this is
0:23:27 something allah encourages us to
0:23:28 encourages us off throughout the quran
0:23:30 and allah makes a plain plain as day
0:23:33 male or female whoever does righteous
0:23:35 deeds
0:23:36 while being a believer again outlining
0:23:38 this and the link between belief and
0:23:40 good deeds
0:23:41 those will enter paradise and will not
0:23:42 be wronged
0:23:43 so paradise the eternal world the
0:23:45 eternal life the eternal reality our
0:23:48 true world the access
0:23:50 to jannah
0:23:52 is essentially determined and obviously
0:23:55 in the grand scheme of things at the end
0:23:56 of the day through the mercy of allah
0:23:58 but it's and but what what invokes that
0:24:01 mercy what opens that up to us it's what
0:24:04 we make of this world how we engage in
0:24:06 this world what we do in this life that
0:24:09 is essential brothers and sisters
0:24:11 so every moment
0:24:13 of this life and what do we know in
0:24:15 islam allah is going to question us
0:24:16 we're going to be questioned about all
0:24:17 of our blessings we're going to be
0:24:19 questioned about every single moment
0:24:21 that we had we're going to be questioned
0:24:22 about our free time we're going to be
0:24:24 questioning about relationships we're
0:24:25 going to be questioned about our choices
0:24:28 so the fact that we have free will
0:24:30 that allah has given us free will as
0:24:32 human beings
0:24:33 that comes with a great responsibility
0:24:35 and that also means that we will
0:24:37 constantly every moment of our waking
0:24:39 life we're going to be faced with
0:24:40 choices
0:24:41 we're going to be faced with choices and
0:24:42 we'll have to continue to choose and
0:24:44 when we choose to do something and we do
0:24:46 it that's an action
0:24:47 that's acting
0:24:50 and a choice another thing we can think
0:24:51 about choices
0:24:53 a choice when you when you're presented
0:24:54 with a choice and you make you have to
0:24:56 make a choice between say two things
0:24:58 that in a way is a test as well right
0:25:00 it's a test to see okay which one are
0:25:01 you going to choose
0:25:02 are you going to choose the good or you
0:25:03 can choose the bad
0:25:05 so
0:25:07 this life every single moment therefore
0:25:09 in this life every single moment whether
0:25:11 you're alive for 50 years 60 years 70
0:25:14 years 80 years 20 years
0:25:16 every single moment is precious
0:25:19 every single moment adds up
0:25:21 it's leading to something
0:25:24 now if we look at it from the islamic
0:25:25 perspective brothers and sisters i mean
0:25:27 islam
0:25:29 this the islamic conception of life of
0:25:32 the human purpose of the hereafter
0:25:35 i mean it it clearly outlines for us the
0:25:39 significance of this life how meaningful
0:25:41 this life is it's significantly
0:25:43 meaningful
0:25:44 i mean we shouldn't as muslims be
0:25:46 wasting a moment
0:25:48 if we could help it we shouldn't be
0:25:49 wasting a moment we should be spending
0:25:51 that time
0:25:52 trying to find ways of doing good
0:25:54 worshipping allah
0:25:56 bettering ourselves growing developing
0:25:58 as muslims improving our characters all
0:26:01 of these things
0:26:02 right that's how significant this life
0:26:04 is
0:26:05 that's how significant this is and i'm
0:26:06 sure again like i mentioned before if
0:26:08 nietzsche had come across the islamic
0:26:10 conception of man life in the universe
0:26:12 you know this life and the hereafter and
0:26:14 the link between the two
0:26:15 allah knows best but i think he really
0:26:17 would have you know come around to islam
0:26:20 so and and that's how simply is brothers
0:26:22 and sisters and this is how we can
0:26:23 completely refute this idea that you
0:26:25 know
0:26:26 religion or in particular islam or you
0:26:28 or the fact that you could put islam in
0:26:30 the same basket as all of the other
0:26:31 religions that say religion makes life
0:26:32 meaningless because religion promotes a
0:26:34 hereafter in eternal life so if you have
0:26:36 an eternity
0:26:38 of joy and pleasure then what's the
0:26:40 worth and value of this life
0:26:43 and especially from a christian
0:26:44 perspective if you believe jesus died
0:26:46 for your sins you know you you believe
0:26:48 in jesus as the son of god or god and
0:26:51 therefore you're guaranteed paradise you
0:26:52 know well what are you doing here why
0:26:54 are we waiting i mean
0:26:56 there's nothing to do
0:26:58 so of course
0:26:59 our time here becomes meaningful we
0:27:01 won't value our life and the time that
0:27:03 we have on this earth but you can't put
0:27:05 islam into the same basket islam
0:27:07 absolutely clarifies these things and
0:27:09 shows how significant this life is and
0:27:11 how therefore we should be using this
0:27:12 life
0:27:13 to attain the hereafter i just want to
0:27:15 conclude on um
0:27:18 you know this uh
0:27:21 what iqbal had to say in regards to
0:27:23 nikba
0:27:24 uh muhammad iqbal he was a muslim
0:27:26 philosopher
0:27:27 uh from the
0:27:29 asian subcontinent he
0:27:31 uh has mentioned for example in the the
0:27:33 javed number he said
0:27:35 had he lived referring to niche in the
0:27:37 times of ahmed i believe he's referring
0:27:39 to the process
0:27:40 he would have entered into the eternal
0:27:42 joy and he's also recorded to have said
0:27:45 and also
0:27:47 nietzsche referring to him as the
0:27:48 frankie if he had been present in the
0:27:50 era uh in this era iqbal would have
0:27:53 taught him what was in the glory of god
0:27:55 so
0:27:56 i mean this is and and significant
0:27:58 coming from iqbal because iqbal was
0:28:00 someone that really studied nietzsche in
0:28:02 a lot of depth a lot of depth you know
0:28:04 and i mean you'll see some conceptions
0:28:07 between the two and ideas that they
0:28:08 presented which were very similar you
0:28:10 know and there's a very i may do another
0:28:12 live on this seminar on this soon but
0:28:14 there's a very beautiful contrast
0:28:16 between nietzsche's ubermensch or
0:28:18 superman and iqbal's uh you know uh
0:28:21 uh the you know the true believer you
0:28:24 know the the
0:28:25 i think it's referred to as a murder
0:28:27 movement the the so the the concept
0:28:29 these two present is there's a beautiful
0:28:31 similarity there's some similarities but
0:28:33 there are many differences as well and
0:28:35 there's a beautiful contrast between the
0:28:36 two that that you know we can really
0:28:37 discuss in a lot of detail as well
0:28:40 but i mean that's as simple as brothers
0:28:42 and sisters you know it's and this is
0:28:43 why i keep saying islam
0:28:46 makes sense of every facet of reality of
0:28:50 human experience it has answers in
0:28:51 regards to every single question that he
0:28:53 has and he has profound answers brothers
0:28:55 and sisters not just you know uh
0:28:58 wishy-washy on profound clear answers
0:29:01 that makes sense that appeal to the
0:29:03 fitra that appeal to
0:29:05 you know
0:29:06 the human intellect that appeal to us in
0:29:08 every single way you know and another
0:29:10 thing i want us to consider brothers and
0:29:11 sisters if you've gone through these two
0:29:13 seminars one thing hopefully that's come
0:29:15 across
0:29:17 is and i'll reiterate it now
0:29:19 is that let me change the screen first
0:29:21 quickly inshallah
0:29:23 so one thing hopefully that's come
0:29:24 across
0:29:26 is that the world that we live in today
0:29:30 as advanced as it is and as
0:29:33 as much as it's progressed from the
0:29:35 perspective of material sciences
0:29:37 technology
0:29:38 you know uh all of these things there's
0:29:40 some beautiful things in the world today
0:29:41 no doubt you know we've we have some
0:29:43 amazing luxuries and amenities available
0:29:45 to us that we should be grateful for
0:29:47 however there is a huge problem there's
0:29:50 a huge hole and gap
0:29:52 which is it's the elephant in the room
0:29:54 it's literally the elephant in the room
0:29:56 which no one is talking about but people
0:29:58 are falling left right and center
0:29:59 because of it and that's nihilism
0:30:02 meaninglessness people don't know what
0:30:04 the meaning of their life is what the
0:30:05 meaning of the existence is what the
0:30:07 purpose of the life is we have
0:30:08 everything yet we're depressed you know
0:30:10 i call it the age of the depressed king
0:30:13 essentially because we have more
0:30:15 possession more material wealth
0:30:18 luxuries essentially that people of the
0:30:20 past never had kings of the past had but
0:30:23 now they're available to the masses
0:30:25 yet people are depressed and they're not
0:30:26 happy and something is missing something
0:30:28 is missing and it's meaning it's purpose
0:30:30 they don't know who they are they won't
0:30:31 find this in the absence of god
0:30:33 you know they're not going to find this
0:30:36 through secularism or liberalism or any
0:30:38 other ideology they're not going to find
0:30:39 these answers and these are fundamental
0:30:41 to us as human beings these are
0:30:42 fundamental to us as human beings we
0:30:44 need to know what our purpose is
0:30:46 and if we don't it's going to lead to
0:30:48 depression and anxiety you can only push
0:30:50 it under the carpet for so long but
0:30:52 eventually it's going to come and it's
0:30:53 going to bite you in the backside and it
0:30:54 will continue to bite you in the
0:30:55 backside until you find answers you know
0:30:57 and people will never find answers
0:30:59 unless they acknowledge the creator and
0:31:02 the real place they need to search for
0:31:03 answers is islam and some of the reasons
0:31:05 are the reasons we've mentioned in these
0:31:07 livestreams you know sure philosophers
0:31:09 in the past in a very simple and
0:31:10 beautiful way like nietzsche pointed out
0:31:12 the problems of other religions you know
0:31:14 in regards to quote-unquote the meaning
0:31:16 of life but islam doesn't have these
0:31:18 problems islam has a profound answer
0:31:20 and it's complete it's holistic
0:31:23 there's no holes there's no gaps you
0:31:25 know so and we need to share this with
0:31:26 people people need to know this
0:31:28 and one more thing i want to quickly
0:31:29 share with you guys inshallah
0:31:32 and this is something i've been really
0:31:33 thinking about here
0:31:35 you we have
0:31:37 young brothers and sisters today muslims
0:31:42 who don't know what the meaning of their
0:31:43 life is
0:31:45 right now and and now this puzzled me
0:31:48 i'm like thinking what's going on well
0:31:49 islam tells us what the meaning of life
0:31:50 is the purpose of life is the worship of
0:31:52 allah we were created to worship allah
0:31:54 the purpose of us being in this
0:31:56 existence is to make the most of this
0:31:57 life so we can attain the akhirah
0:31:59 allah's pleasure it in jannah
0:32:01 it's clear
0:32:02 but still we we feel
0:32:05 and we live
0:32:06 as if we haven't discovered these things
0:32:08 as muslims
0:32:10 now that's strange that's that's weird
0:32:13 why is this happening
0:32:14 you know and and
0:32:16 that's when occurred to me that there is
0:32:17 a missing link here
0:32:20 knowing these things or coming across
0:32:22 these things is not enough
0:32:25 you can be a muslim nihilist you can be
0:32:28 a muslim nihilist
0:32:30 knowing
0:32:34 is not enough
0:32:36 what are you doing with that that's the
0:32:38 key
0:32:38 what are we doing with that
0:32:41 are we now carrying that
0:32:44 are we carrying our islam are we
0:32:45 carrying that reality internalizing it
0:32:48 and living by and struggling with it
0:32:51 or are we just
0:32:52 aware of it we see it
0:32:55 but we're too busy engaged in fulfilling
0:32:57 our desires and you know getting our
0:33:00 cheap thrills and you know
0:33:03 instant gratification through whatever
0:33:04 sins that we're engaged in
0:33:06 you know it's a big problem you know and
0:33:09 i've seen this so many young brothers
0:33:10 and sisters deflated don't know what
0:33:12 their meaning is don't know what they
0:33:13 hear yeah they know allah created me to
0:33:15 worship him but unless we engage in
0:33:17 doing this
0:33:19 we choose remember free will we are free
0:33:21 of brother says we have to make choices
0:33:23 this is probably the greatest choice
0:33:25 that we have to make for ourselves think
0:33:27 about it and choose
0:33:28 okay i know this is the truth but it's
0:33:31 going to do nothing for me unless i now
0:33:35 pick it up
0:33:36 and implement it and carry it and live
0:33:38 by it
0:33:39 okay and this is what we have that is
0:33:41 the missing link that's what we need to
0:33:43 do be responsible
0:33:45 take the responsibility for our lives
0:33:46 and our deen pick up our islam and
0:33:49 internalize it live by it understand it
0:33:51 okay allah created me to worship him my
0:33:54 worship a part of my worship is to
0:33:56 engage and do good in this world
0:33:59 let me start doing that
0:34:00 are we actually doing that are we see it
0:34:02 takes sacrifice brothers and sisters and
0:34:04 we're not the problem is we're not
0:34:05 willing to make sacrifices these days
0:34:07 we're not we're so spoiled
0:34:10 just spoiled rotten literally
0:34:12 we we are so weak these days honestly
0:34:15 all of including myself so weak brothers
0:34:17 and sisters
0:34:19 so frail that you know we can't make the
0:34:22 smallest sacrifice
0:34:25 understanding that if i was to give up
0:34:27 these trivial little
0:34:29 pleasures that i engage in
0:34:32 and make a little bit of effort
0:34:34 in worshiping allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
0:34:36 and trying to worship allah that in the
0:34:39 long run this is going to pay off for me
0:34:40 in ways i'm i i i i can't even imagine i
0:34:44 literally can't even imagine
0:34:46 but we're so fray we can frail that we
0:34:48 can't make those small sacrifices
0:34:50 brothers and sisters there's something
0:34:51 for all of us to think about
0:34:53 how many of us i mean think about this
0:34:55 let me give you an analogy here imagine
0:34:56 there's a guy there's a man
0:34:59 he's
0:35:00 lost in the wilderness he's in some
0:35:01 jungle okay
0:35:03 he's in some forest he doesn't know how
0:35:05 to get out there
0:35:07 it's cold it's winter it's freezing he
0:35:09 makes a little hot little tent and he
0:35:13 gets some little branches and twigs and
0:35:14 hay and he tries to light a fire he's
0:35:17 struggling to lie because fire is
0:35:18 survival in this situation he's trying
0:35:20 to light a fire he's struggling strongly
0:35:21 struggling he lights a fire
0:35:23 and then as soon as he lights a fire
0:35:25 this guy gets a cup of water puts it
0:35:27 over the fire
0:35:29 distinguishes the fire and then he tries
0:35:31 to light the fire again lights the fire
0:35:32 again puts a cup of water over it
0:35:34 extinguishes the fire again lights the
0:35:36 fire puts a copper over it extinguishes
0:35:38 the fire what would you make of such a
0:35:39 person what would you think of such a
0:35:40 person
0:35:42 you would say he's cracked he's mad he's
0:35:44 deluded
0:35:45 is he stupid that's what we think
0:35:47 but that's exactly what we're doing
0:35:49 with our lives essentially that's
0:35:51 exactly what we're doing
0:35:52 anyway
0:35:53 you know
0:35:54 i know islam is true you know i know
0:35:57 this is the the truth you acknowledge it
0:35:59 you light that little fire and then you
0:36:01 get a cup of water whatever sin it is
0:36:03 whatever pleasure is you put the couple
0:36:04 put out the fire and we're constantly in
0:36:06 this vicious cycle of building a fire
0:36:08 struggling so hard and each time you try
0:36:10 to light the fire it gets harder and
0:36:11 harder and harder and we light it we put
0:36:13 it out we like it we put it out
0:36:15 you know but we're just doing this
0:36:17 mindlessly and not thinking about what
0:36:19 we're doing you know whereas in reality
0:36:21 if we were to just make a little bit
0:36:22 more effort and struggle a little bit
0:36:24 harder and take that responsibility for
0:36:26 ourselves and our lives and fix
0:36:27 ourselves from this perspective that's
0:36:29 when we really actualize in this the
0:36:31 meaning that allah is telling us
0:36:33 yet knowing it's one thing but acting
0:36:35 upon it in a way where it becomes real
0:36:37 for us is another thing and that's what
0:36:38 we have to do for ourselves first and
0:36:40 foremost and then once we've done this
0:36:42 we have to now go and share this with
0:36:43 other people as well
0:36:45 you know because people out there need
0:36:46 to know
0:36:47 you know we are in a much better
0:36:48 position
0:36:49 than a non-muslim out there who doesn't
0:36:51 even know the first thing about islam or
0:36:53 the quran or the fact that
0:36:55 islam has the answers to the questions
0:36:57 that they've been asking for all of
0:36:59 their life
0:37:00 they don't know we know
0:37:01 but we're sitting on it we're doing
0:37:03 nothing with it you know so may allah
0:37:04 make it easy for us and help us
0:37:05 inshaallah brothers and sisters
0:37:07 we go to q a now and
0:37:11 here go from there inshallah
0:37:13 if you have any questions
0:37:15 please put them in the
0:37:20 question section
0:37:23 and i'm going to just quickly skim
0:37:24 through the ones on top
0:37:48 i shall assist the valeries for a nice
0:37:50 comment
0:37:52 success and increase all of us in your
0:37:55 mind and help us
0:37:56 and forgive us
0:37:58 so she comes from a christian background
0:38:00 subhanallah
0:38:15 yep
0:38:16 muhammad
0:38:21 he says one thing that he didn't take
0:38:23 into consideration when he was
0:38:24 discussing the topic is the fact that in
0:38:26 islam the actions we do in this life
0:38:29 determine the the afterlife thanksgiving
0:38:31 life
0:38:33 hence giving this life
0:38:35 a high absolutely broken
0:38:51 so hello says
0:38:52 uh if religion doesn't describe meaning
0:38:54 to nietzsche
0:38:56 or didn't describe meaning then what
0:38:58 does
0:38:59 all you have is subjective
0:39:03 ascribe meaning to yourself we have
0:39:05 objective ascribed meaning to our lives
0:39:08 allah gives us meaning yeah absolutely
0:39:11 you know with nietzsche specifically
0:39:13 like i said it was for him as you he
0:39:15 just couldn't see and and i don't blame
0:39:16 him because if he was just focusing
0:39:18 on christianity then it was inevitable
0:39:20 that you know being an intelligent
0:39:22 person that he was that he would come to
0:39:24 the conclusion that yeah stripping
0:39:25 meaning from life
0:39:26 um
0:39:29 yeah i mean it's he he died an atheist
0:39:32 you know so um
0:39:34 you know
0:39:35 that was that but
0:39:36 um
0:39:37 oh as far as we we're all aware he died
0:39:39 an atheist you know allah knows the
0:39:41 truth but what's apparent is he he died
0:39:43 on what he was
0:39:44 um
0:39:47 yeah so and this there's another very
0:39:49 beautiful point that comes from this
0:39:50 which is
0:39:53 for us
0:39:54 as muslims and think about this for a
0:39:56 second
0:39:58 we have the answer
0:40:00 which is coming from allah
0:40:03 so the answer to what is the meaning of
0:40:05 my life
0:40:06 is coming directly
0:40:08 from the creator from allah
0:40:12 for
0:40:13 people out there who don't know this
0:40:18 they know they need meaning right now
0:40:21 what are the alternatives
0:40:23 if they're an intelligent person well
0:40:25 the first thing they're going to
0:40:26 conclude is that ultimately life is
0:40:28 meaningless
0:40:29 from their perspective okay ultimately
0:40:31 there is no meaning to life the second
0:40:33 thing they will try to do is probably
0:40:34 something along the lines of what these
0:40:36 existentialist philosophers did which
0:40:37 was
0:40:38 ascribe meaning to yourself make life
0:40:41 meaningful make it significant give your
0:40:43 own meaning to your own life
0:40:45 right so this is what this is what he uh
0:40:48 that this is what they would
0:40:50 do but they would have to always live
0:40:54 with the pain of
0:40:56 knowing that they've made this up
0:40:58 whatever the this meaning they've given
0:41:00 themselves
0:41:01 they'll always have to live with the
0:41:03 pain that i've made this up
0:41:05 no matter how significant it seems to me
0:41:07 right now and no matter how much i'm
0:41:09 pushing and struggling and sacrificing
0:41:11 and people do
0:41:12 people give themselves meaning and they
0:41:13 sacrifice everything for that meaning
0:41:15 but they know they should know in the
0:41:17 back of their mind that whatever it is
0:41:18 that they're sacrificing so much for
0:41:20 whatever it is that they're giving up so
0:41:21 many things for
0:41:22 it's
0:41:23 at the end of the day it's something
0:41:25 they made up
0:41:26 now think about how sad that position is
0:41:29 if you really think about it and even
0:41:30 even all of these extensionless
0:41:32 philosophers you know nietzsche
0:41:33 presented this idea of uh you know the
0:41:35 super this superman fig character where
0:41:38 you make your own morals and make your
0:41:39 own values and you're this this you know
0:41:42 you you elevate yourself like this if a
0:41:44 person was to act upon this he would
0:41:46 have to knowing the rest of nietzsche's
0:41:48 philosophy would he would have to every
0:41:50 so often acknowledge
0:41:51 yeah i'm just making this up you know
0:41:53 i'm yeah it's
0:41:55 it's a good thing i think it's a good
0:41:56 thing
0:41:57 but at the end of the day
0:41:59 i've i've told myself that this is what
0:42:01 my meaning is i've made this up for
0:42:03 myself
0:42:04 now when you think like that well that
0:42:05 can that immediately devalues everything
0:42:09 because when you make things up they
0:42:10 don't have any intrinsic value it's just
0:42:12 made up right it's an idea
0:42:14 but look at how privileged we are as
0:42:16 muslims brothers and sisters allah is so
0:42:18 so so privileged
0:42:20 will we have the answer
0:42:25 for example
0:42:26 it's coming directly from allah
0:42:29 allah is telling it so there's no doubt
0:42:31 this is the truth
0:42:32 this is the truth but how unfortunate is
0:42:35 that we just look at it as a statement
0:42:37 and just keep it an arm's length from us
0:42:40 keeping our arms left from us just so we
0:42:42 can carry on go you know doing whatever
0:42:44 else we're doing whatever other things
0:42:45 we think
0:42:47 are more important you know in our lives
0:42:50 that is a very very that's an even more
0:42:54 sad position to be in as a compared to
0:42:56 the non-muslim
0:42:58 and this is why i keep emphasizing
0:42:59 brothers and sisters you know we need to
0:43:01 really
0:43:04 get a grip of the situation you know the
0:43:06 world needs islam absolutely you know
0:43:09 who's going to deliver it it's going to
0:43:11 be the muslims it's going to be you guys
0:43:13 it's going to be us guys
0:43:16 but
0:43:16 let's let's let's clean up our own
0:43:18 closets first you know let's let's fix
0:43:20 our own houses have we got that right
0:43:22 have we
0:43:24 are we doing what we're going to be
0:43:25 telling people to do
0:43:27 are we living these realities are we
0:43:29 trying to live according to our purpose
0:43:31 are we making sacrifices
0:43:34 you know something for us to think about
0:43:47 okay let's see question two
0:44:02 swallow is a very beautiful point
0:44:03 question
0:44:05 by
0:44:06 bowarith
0:44:07 i think that's how you say do you think
0:44:09 the verse
0:44:10 that calls those christians and jews
0:44:13 who would dashiously audaciously speak
0:44:16 of jannah as if is already promised only
0:44:19 for them to wish for death as a
0:44:21 refutation of
0:44:22 uh of this saved idea absolutely
0:44:25 shekhard actually mentioned this he used
0:44:27 this in a debate
0:44:28 uh with the
0:44:30 with a christian he actually used this
0:44:31 point
0:44:32 in a debate well you know why don't you
0:44:34 wish for death then you know if you're
0:44:36 so sure why do you want to carry on
0:44:38 living
0:44:39 you know that's definitely a refutation
0:44:40 of this
0:44:41 uh in regards to the jewish tradition
0:44:44 it's it's it's a bit
0:44:47 even the conception of the hereafter is
0:44:48 very different now i mean according to
0:44:51 many of the leading scholars of judaism
0:44:54 they don't even actually believe in a
0:44:55 actual
0:44:57 heaven in hell
0:44:58 for them it's more
0:45:01 it's
0:45:02 metaphorical so you know i think i heard
0:45:05 one rabbi saying
0:45:07 hell according to
0:45:08 his understanding was the pain you would
0:45:11 feel being kept at distance from god or
0:45:13 something like this because of the sins
0:45:15 you may have done which is and they also
0:45:17 say it's temporary it's for a certain
0:45:18 number of days and it's interesting
0:45:20 because allah mentions that they make
0:45:22 this claim that you know if they only
0:45:23 they would only if they would
0:45:25 be touched on paraphrasing but it would
0:45:26 be to be touched by the fire it would
0:45:28 only be for a few number of days a
0:45:30 couple of days um so it's very
0:45:32 interesting
0:45:38 islam paradise says what should be the
0:45:40 first thing a man should tell
0:45:42 to a non-muslim about islam
0:45:44 it would very it will be it would be
0:45:46 relative to each individual bro so it
0:45:47 depends on who you're speaking to
0:45:49 you know it will really depend on who
0:45:51 you're speaking to it's not going to be
0:45:52 this one statement
0:45:54 is you know fits all type of approach
0:45:57 you have to
0:45:59 address each person individually you
0:46:01 know you have to
0:46:02 figure out try to figure out okay what
0:46:05 is it what is it that's going to capture
0:46:06 the attention what is it what is it
0:46:08 that's a
0:46:09 yeah what's important for them
0:46:11 in their life and how does that now link
0:46:13 to islam and the reason i'm saying this
0:46:15 is because
0:46:16 guys utility is a very big thing human
0:46:18 beings more than logic and evidence
0:46:21 in reality on the ground people work of
0:46:24 utility
0:46:25 if something is useful
0:46:27 people will adopt it
0:46:28 that's how we that's how we function
0:46:30 during most of our lives we don't sit
0:46:31 there and
0:46:32 first philosophize whether it's you know
0:46:35 true false whatever the case no if it's
0:46:37 useful
0:46:38 people would adhere to things right
0:46:41 what's in it for me that's the mentality
0:46:43 right if people are looking for what's
0:46:44 in it for them
0:46:45 a lot of times when it comes to us
0:46:47 presenting islam to people we don't
0:46:50 highlight to them what's in it for them
0:46:53 very important thing to keep in mind
0:46:55 right
0:46:56 and and and this is why i think you know
0:46:58 a lot of people
0:46:59 aren't interested because look if you
0:47:01 just go to the person today in the 21st
0:47:03 century a non-muslim
0:47:06 say a liberal atheist agnostic type you
0:47:09 know middle class
0:47:10 has a nice job has a nice house has a
0:47:12 nice car he's doing well
0:47:14 if you go to such a person and say
0:47:17 you were created to worship uh
0:47:19 god there is one only one god to be
0:47:21 worshipped you know and you shouldn't
0:47:23 associate partners with him and that you
0:47:25 should become muslim or something along
0:47:27 those lines chances are that person
0:47:29 isn't going to be interested because
0:47:30 from their perspective
0:47:32 what's the need
0:47:33 what's the need to become muslim when
0:47:36 i've got everything worked out for me in
0:47:37 this life you know everything is good
0:47:40 why do why should i now burden myself
0:47:41 with
0:47:43 additional things
0:47:44 rituals worship you know i i'm happy
0:47:47 thinking that i'm god and you know or
0:47:49 having that type of mentality and having
0:47:51 everything comfortable
0:47:52 so we have to really try to figure out
0:47:55 what is the needs of the people around
0:47:57 us today
0:47:58 what is missing what's lacking what is
0:48:00 it that they can't find
0:48:02 without islam
0:48:04 right one of the things is
0:48:06 meaning
0:48:07 this is one of the biggest things
0:48:09 huge thing brothers and sisters jordan
0:48:11 peterson for example
0:48:13 one of you know the things that's made
0:48:14 him extremely successful and something
0:48:16 he's touched upon which no one else has
0:48:18 touched upon recently
0:48:19 is this whole thing about
0:48:21 finding meaning you know finding meaning
0:48:24 and living through with that meaning and
0:48:26 you know and all of these types of
0:48:28 things you know and that's because
0:48:29 there's a need for people a lot of
0:48:31 atheists you know people who followed
0:48:33 dawkins and harris have moved camp now
0:48:35 they've moved camp moved on to the
0:48:36 temple of people like jordan peterson
0:48:38 why because he's providing he's
0:48:40 fulfilling a need
0:48:41 that's that's that people have so as
0:48:43 muslims today in the dao we have to
0:48:45 think about okay what is the need of the
0:48:46 people that we're speaking to you know
0:48:48 what can we give them and there's loads
0:48:50 you know but meaning is one of the one
0:48:52 of the central ones
0:48:53 uh for people
0:48:56 so hopefully that helps inshallah
0:49:11 so again question on how should we
0:49:12 articulate the importance of meaning to
0:49:14 someone who is
0:49:16 apathetic towards religion
0:49:19 get them to
0:49:21 realize that they have the need
0:49:23 if they have the capacity to realize
0:49:25 they have the need
0:49:26 just and normally when you start off
0:49:28 without conversation with someone like
0:49:29 that just ask them normally one of the
0:49:31 lines that we use is well what's the
0:49:32 meaning of life what's the purpose of
0:49:33 life according to you
0:49:35 you know and see what they say
0:49:38 and it's almost guaranteed that people
0:49:40 who don't believe in god
0:49:42 would
0:49:43 say something which would be meaningful
0:49:45 for them
0:49:46 um but it would be something like you
0:49:47 know i want to do charity work i want to
0:49:49 become a millionaire you know i want to
0:49:51 whatever it is you know and then the
0:49:54 next step is to highlight to them well
0:49:56 that's nice but that's something you
0:49:59 have
0:50:00 told yourself what is the ultimate
0:50:01 meaning to your life
0:50:03 and that's going to get them to realize
0:50:06 i don't have one right
0:50:09 and as soon as that penny drops
0:50:12 i you know for for most people at least
0:50:14 that is going to be a paradigm shift
0:50:16 moment for them in their lives as soon
0:50:18 as they realize there is no ultimate
0:50:20 meaning to my existence you know uh as
0:50:23 you know camus albert camus put it in
0:50:25 his uh
0:50:26 in one of his books i think sisyphus
0:50:29 something along those lines he mentioned
0:50:31 that when someone hits that point where
0:50:32 they
0:50:33 get fixated with the question of meaning
0:50:35 everything else becomes trivial
0:50:37 everything else loses meaning because if
0:50:40 you don't know the meaning of your
0:50:41 existence well you at the same time
0:50:43 realize that
0:50:44 it's pretty much all meaningless until i
0:50:46 can figure this out
0:50:48 so
0:50:49 once you get them to that point now you
0:50:51 can provide them with the answers and
0:50:52 now they're going to be all is and
0:50:53 they're going to be listening you know
0:50:55 so
0:50:56 that i think is going to be a very
0:50:57 powerful approach
0:50:59 for someone like that inshallah
0:51:16 says can a nihilist of any type whether
0:51:19 moral epistemological or existential
0:51:22 have meaningful have a meaningful
0:51:24 purpose
0:51:25 in any objective way without deluding
0:51:28 oneself
0:51:30 um
0:51:31 no
0:51:33 if
0:51:34 they
0:51:34 are
0:51:36 an atheist or a naturalist
0:51:40 then there is no
0:51:42 ultimate meaning behind their existence
0:51:46 aside from if you look at bringing the
0:51:48 idea of biology and evolution if you if
0:51:51 they were to bring this into the mix
0:51:53 aside from
0:51:55 procreation
0:51:58 having children passing on your genes
0:52:00 that's i mean that's the only
0:52:01 significant thing from their perspective
0:52:03 and this is why
0:52:04 several times i've seen richard dawkins
0:52:06 on interviews when he's questioned about
0:52:07 the meaning of life he points this out
0:52:10 but then he quickly makes a shift
0:52:12 towards speaking about something that we
0:52:15 you know would recognize as meaningful
0:52:18 aside from procreation you know i mean
0:52:21 yeah sure that's
0:52:22 you can say from from a biological
0:52:24 perspective that is or an evolutionary
0:52:26 perspective that is
0:52:28 the goal of life
0:52:30 they can call it meaning but i mean on a
0:52:32 human level that's pretty pathetic if
0:52:35 you ask me i mean if you were to just
0:52:36 reduce yourself down to biology and uh
0:52:40 you know have you have it your
0:52:42 objective as procreation i mean what
0:52:43 would how would that transpire socially
0:52:45 think about that that'll be mad people
0:52:48 will be going crazy you know
0:52:50 uh stuck for like so many you know
0:52:51 people would just be doing every you
0:52:54 know you can imagine i mean don't
0:52:55 imagine but you can imagine that would
0:52:57 be madness you know that would lead to
0:52:59 probably the collapse of
0:53:02 any society to be honest
0:53:04 um so yeah they're other than that they
0:53:06 have no ultimate meaning or purpose the
0:53:07 best they can do is make up something
0:53:09 for themselves and somehow convince
0:53:12 themselves that this is meaningful
0:53:14 that's the best they can do
0:53:25 okay
0:53:29 where did nietzsche build his ideas from
0:53:31 he obviously like most philosophers he
0:53:32 studied other previous philosophers um i
0:53:35 don't remember top of my head but he had
0:53:36 a couple of guys that he would refer to
0:53:39 regularly
0:53:40 he was he was what you referred as an
0:53:42 original thinker resource he was someone
0:53:43 that came up with new ideas too
0:53:46 um
0:53:46 [Music]
0:53:47 but i i can't give you any names right
0:53:49 now nothing's coming top of my head
0:54:04 uh question do
0:54:14 okay let's see this is a good question
0:54:17 so do you think we should mention the
0:54:19 fact that islam promises an actual
0:54:22 non-metaphorical paradise
0:54:25 more often
0:54:27 when the salvation is discussed do you
0:54:29 think we should
0:54:30 mention the fact that islam promises
0:54:33 yeah i mean i don't see any problems
0:54:36 it's actually a good thing
0:54:38 um because look it's
0:54:41 there may be a tendency to feel like
0:54:43 because we live in a very materialistic
0:54:45 society that to talk and and it's again
0:54:48 ridicule is a very powerful tool
0:54:50 that that's been that's used by
0:54:52 politicians and people and groups for
0:54:55 ever yeah
0:54:56 and it's very powerful if you look at on
0:54:58 a social level
0:55:00 whenever you go out then you talk about
0:55:02 anything that's beyond the material
0:55:04 it's almost you feel ridiculed you you
0:55:06 can you can feel people you know
0:55:09 uh laughing and and looking down at you
0:55:11 looking at you in a strange way that's
0:55:13 just a society but we need to overcome
0:55:14 this you know we have to really overcome
0:55:16 this and say well
0:55:18 these people are ignorant you know it's
0:55:19 unfortunate that they've been led to
0:55:20 believe
0:55:21 certain things and they've never
0:55:23 questioned them never questioned them in
0:55:25 any significant way um so definitely
0:55:27 mention jannah and jahannam in your
0:55:29 dawah absolutely you know it's it's it's
0:55:31 significant because look it also appeals
0:55:33 to the fitrah
0:55:35 what would what do people want
0:55:38 ask the people the question it's jannah
0:55:40 essentially it's jannah whatever they
0:55:42 say it's all the things you'll find in
0:55:44 jannah
0:55:45 you know an eternal life
0:55:47 happiness peace no suffering no trouble
0:55:51 you know everything you can desire or
0:55:53 think of it's gender that's what that's
0:55:54 what people want i mean think about all
0:55:56 of these holiday companies yeah when you
0:55:58 see these ads on tv holiday packages
0:56:01 what do you see you see palm trees
0:56:03 beaches resorts
0:56:05 very similar to the imagery we we find
0:56:07 in the quran you know so it's it's and
0:56:09 why do they use these it's appealing to
0:56:11 the human nature you know entices the
0:56:13 nature so so definitely mention these
0:56:15 things in your tower absolutely
0:56:17 don't shy away from it thinking oh we're
0:56:19 talking to materialists we have to take
0:56:20 a bit more of a materialistic approach
0:56:22 with them no
0:56:23 you know sometimes you have to open
0:56:24 people up with a bit of a shock
0:56:26 and do it with confidence because you
0:56:28 know that's going to pay off you know
0:56:30 they at least will get into question
0:56:31 what they're thinking or the way they
0:56:32 see things
0:56:38 will this be uploaded to the powerpoint
0:56:39 it'll be uploaded with the slides on the
0:56:41 screen
0:56:43 maybe we can i don't know i'll check
0:56:45 i'll check with hamza if we can we
0:56:46 attach the slides somewhere as well or
0:56:49 we'll have a link for the slides where
0:56:51 you guys can access them somewhere
0:56:52 inshallah
0:56:53 okay guys if you have any more questions
0:56:55 please let me know or otherwise we can
0:56:57 wrap up inshallah
0:56:59 okay question
0:57:09 question you need to touch upon the
0:57:10 problem of evil and if so is there any
0:57:13 relationship between it and nihilism
0:57:15 um because if there is the meaning
0:57:18 that islam gives to suffering could be a
0:57:20 savior absolutely um
0:57:24 he's
0:57:25 if you look i love what he said there's
0:57:26 an undertone of this idea behind his
0:57:29 thinking
0:57:30 you know because like i said earlier
0:57:32 maybe it wasn't as as much of a detour
0:57:34 now but um his life was full of
0:57:36 suffering himself right he suffered
0:57:38 throughout his he had loads of everyone
0:57:40 suffers but
0:57:42 may allah make it easy for all of us but
0:57:43 he had a lot of difficult times in his
0:57:45 life right really difficult times right
0:57:47 it's it's it was tragic but
0:57:49 and that definitely contributed to his
0:57:51 perspective and his outlook and a lot of
0:57:53 things that he writes and he suggests
0:57:55 and when he speaks about christianity
0:57:57 you know this is a fundamental driving
0:57:59 force behind many of his ideas
0:58:01 um so definitely and again like you
0:58:03 mentioned
0:58:04 that
0:58:05 you know
0:58:06 the meaning islam gives the suffering
0:58:08 and that's something we didn't really
0:58:09 touch upon but it's so powerful you know
0:58:12 that you can't make sense of suffering
0:58:13 how i mean what you think about it this
0:58:15 way guys here
0:58:18 the philosophy
0:58:20 instilled at the time of the
0:58:21 enlightenment which we have still
0:58:22 carried through to this day the
0:58:24 fundamental tenet one of the fundamental
0:58:26 tenets is
0:58:28 progress
0:58:29 worldly progress
0:58:31 right that is this the staple statement
0:58:33 for humanity
0:58:35 worldly progress okay
0:58:37 now how does suffering fare
0:58:40 in this conception think about that
0:58:42 what is suffering then it's just this
0:58:45 meaningless
0:58:48 roadblock that's all it is suffering is
0:58:50 a meaningless roadblock
0:58:52 and that's why when we suffer today
0:58:55 people suffer today in the 21st century
0:58:56 it's
0:58:57 it has far more of a profound impact on
0:58:59 them than they may have had for people
0:59:01 that lived 100 years ago 200 years ago a
0:59:03 thousand years ago
0:59:04 right because they have we have no tools
0:59:06 today people have no tools today to be
0:59:08 able to really make a significant
0:59:11 uh
0:59:13 contribution or come up with a
0:59:14 significant idea
0:59:16 in regards to their suffering they can't
0:59:18 make sense of suffering it's just this
0:59:20 problem and it's something it's a it's a
0:59:22 it's just this nasty roadblock which is
0:59:25 blocking me from progress
0:59:27 you know that's how they see it that's
0:59:28 how the world sees suffering
0:59:30 and where are you going to get meaning
0:59:33 behind suffering from anyway i mean
0:59:35 viktor franco
0:59:37 and he this is something he focuses on
0:59:39 the meaning behind suffering in his book
0:59:41 and he makes some very profound points
0:59:43 from very profound points in how to see
0:59:45 suffering and what to make of it and
0:59:46 here's what the idea is
0:59:49 that
0:59:49 [Music]
0:59:51 you can't choose your suffering but you
0:59:52 can choose how you
0:59:54 respond to your suffering
0:59:56 right so he gives the example in his
0:59:58 book where he was in the camp the nazi
1:00:00 concentration camps and he would see
1:00:01 that people were suffering but people
1:00:02 had the choice you know to not let the
1:00:05 circumstance determine the way they
1:00:06 acted so he gave examples of people who
1:00:08 hadn't eaten but they would smile at
1:00:10 another person
1:00:12 you know just out of being human
1:00:14 you know and would choose to give the
1:00:15 last piece of bread bread to the
1:00:18 the other person although they hadn't
1:00:19 eaten themselves you know so they had
1:00:21 they it's the choices they made how they
1:00:23 choose to perceive their suffering which
1:00:25 gave them gave meaning to their
1:00:26 suffering and it was a very beautiful
1:00:28 way of looking at it but again
1:00:30 underlying all of this as profound as it
1:00:32 is if you really look at the base
1:00:35 there's nothing is why do they why why
1:00:37 why do this you know as opposed to
1:00:39 eating that bread yourself or not
1:00:40 smiling at the person i know it's a
1:00:42 crude way of looking at it but that's
1:00:43 the reality
1:00:44 you know
1:00:45 so
1:00:47 and again islam provides a beautiful
1:00:48 answer in regards to suffering the
1:00:50 meaning it gives me to suffering so many
1:00:52 answers subhanallah you know life is a
1:00:54 test let's begin with that foundational
1:00:55 concept and then build upon it you know
1:00:58 you
1:00:59 tests are there it's a couple of things
1:01:01 that give you right now tests are a
1:01:03 means of expiating sins
1:01:05 tests are a means for us developing
1:01:07 ourselves as human beings growing
1:01:09 learning right developing you know and i
1:01:11 mean we have worldly examples of this
1:01:13 how does the
1:01:14 the body the same applies to the
1:01:16 physical body of the human being when
1:01:18 you lift heavy weights
1:01:19 that's painful it's suffering but you
1:01:21 grow through lifting those weights and
1:01:23 it's a beautiful metaphor training with
1:01:25 weights
1:01:26 same applies to the soul
1:01:28 you know and and and and the mind we our
1:01:31 souls grow and develop through hardships
1:01:34 and trials
1:01:35 just like the body grows through you
1:01:36 know the the hardship of lifting heavy
1:01:38 weights
1:01:39 so we grow and develop as human beings
1:01:43 it's a means for us to grow closer to
1:01:44 allah allah mentions this in the quran
1:01:46 examples of this where people out i see
1:01:48 higher waves come over them you know and
1:01:51 they you know they they call out to
1:01:53 allah and sincere faith
1:01:54 and then when they return to return to
1:01:56 safety again very few of them stay on
1:01:58 the truth they turn back to the old ways
1:02:00 right this highlights fitra one thing
1:02:03 which is that they
1:02:05 what call out to
1:02:05 highlight
1:02:07 it highlights that suffering
1:02:10 is a gift because it literally
1:02:12 opens a portal a wormhole a shortcut to
1:02:15 allah
1:02:17 because when suffering happens it all
1:02:19 the other distractions are removed
1:02:21 you know because you what happens when
1:02:23 you suffer you break
1:02:24 your ego breaks
1:02:27 and you break as a person and you
1:02:28 realize how weak you are you're humbled
1:02:31 when you suffer arrogance is broken and
1:02:34 that opens up a shortcut to allah
1:02:38 now if if suffering therefore acts as a
1:02:42 conveyor belt to our creator and
1:02:44 connecting with him
1:02:46 and therefore worshiping him well then
1:02:48 is suffering really a bad thing if we
1:02:50 look at it from the islamic perspective
1:02:51 if it's helping us fulfill the purpose
1:02:53 of our life which is to worship allah
1:02:56 so that's a profound insight right there
1:02:57 i mean for us to you know think about
1:02:59 from the islamic perspective that allah
1:03:00 has
1:03:01 allah is suffering there is mercy behind
1:03:03 suffering in some cases it's a means for
1:03:06 us to find our creator and worship him
1:03:07 which is fulfilling our purpose and
1:03:09 therefore it means for us to attain
1:03:10 paradise
1:03:12 you know and there's many other things
1:03:13 many other ways we can okay you know so
1:03:16 it's it's uh
1:03:19 islam has a profound answer in regards
1:03:20 to the meaning behind suffering too
1:03:26 okay i think that is
1:03:34 yes i think a few more
1:03:44 say it says why should we have children
1:03:47 if maybe
1:03:49 they end up in hell forever maybe we
1:03:51 should exist
1:03:52 shouldn't exist that would be better
1:03:54 yeah bro i think this is a very sort of
1:03:57 it's a pessimistic way of looking at
1:03:59 things number one
1:04:00 and secondly it's a
1:04:02 unproductive
1:04:04 and
1:04:06 let me choose my words carefully it's an
1:04:08 unproductive way of looking at things
1:04:09 bro and i tell you why
1:04:11 we're not god
1:04:13 who is the most merciful the most
1:04:15 forgiving we're not allah
1:04:17 who is going to get nothing from sending
1:04:19 people to hell
1:04:21 right
1:04:23 we're not allah we're not god the one
1:04:25 who loves us
1:04:26 more than our own mothers love us
1:04:29 so
1:04:30 let's not try to
1:04:32 pre-frame
1:04:34 what's going to happen in the future
1:04:35 because we're not god who has access to
1:04:37 the unseen
1:04:38 right so that these things these ideas
1:04:40 are what's these are what's nothing
1:04:42 short of us bro these these are not
1:04:43 going to serve you
1:04:45 i mean then you apply it to ourselves
1:04:46 why do we exist
1:04:48 you know
1:04:49 i mean if someone if someone and this is
1:04:51 some atheist makes such claims as well
1:04:53 you know that oh i didn't ask to be
1:04:54 alive
1:04:56 you know but well then go kill yourself
1:04:57 not literally but i mean it's some a way
1:05:00 rhetorically waking them up well why'd
1:05:02 you carry on existing
1:05:04 you know hamza said to someone once you
1:05:05 know let me help you with that as a joke
1:05:07 obviously to to uh
1:05:09 let me just preface that as a joke to
1:05:11 help him realize what was going on no we
1:05:13 do want to live we do want to experience
1:05:15 life and we we have a creator who is not
1:05:17 going to send people to the hell fire or
1:05:19 has determined that for for no reason
1:05:21 right so these are not the ways we have
1:05:23 to look at reality we have to remember
1:05:25 what allah said you know think good of
1:05:27 allah
1:05:28 allah says in the narration in hadith
1:05:33 that i am in the as my slaves as
1:05:35 translator i am as my slaves think of me
1:05:38 and that's a very powerful
1:05:40 narration i mean that we should consider
1:05:43 you know and we should always think as
1:05:44 we've considered as we're encouraged
1:05:46 always think good of allah
1:05:48 you know that inshallah that allah is
1:05:50 going to help us be good muslims allah
1:05:51 is going to facilitate that for us allah
1:05:53 is going to facilitate it for the that
1:05:55 for our kids and inshallah we're going
1:05:57 to enter a paradise you know think for
1:06:00 because if you think you start thinking
1:06:01 in a negative way we're not going to
1:06:02 move we're going to become potatoes
1:06:04 we're not going to be able to move
1:06:06 we're going to just ruin our perception
1:06:07 of reality by thinking this way and
1:06:09 that's what shaytan wants he wants to
1:06:11 ruin our perception of reality he wants
1:06:13 us to ruin our perception of allah
1:06:15 so that we're unsuccessful because the
1:06:17 human psychology man we're very strange
1:06:20 creatures brothers and sisters as soon
1:06:22 as we get negative or get negative ideas
1:06:25 in our mind
1:06:26 it really deflates us
1:06:28 you know we're finished we're done
1:06:30 you know and and you don't want to go
1:06:32 down that hole
1:06:33 always remind yourself
1:06:35 that allah is the most merciful the most
1:06:37 forgiving he loves us more than our own
1:06:38 mothers love us he has immense love for
1:06:41 us and we can't even understand this
1:06:42 love we literally can't understand this
1:06:44 love
1:06:45 when you read the quran and here's
1:06:46 another thing
1:06:47 we have this i don't know what it is
1:06:49 guys but we have this filter we need to
1:06:51 remove this but it's difficult it's
1:06:53 going to be hard you know and i struggle
1:06:55 with this as well
1:06:57 well sometimes when we read the quran
1:06:59 and we come across ayat on hellfire
1:07:02 and punishment
1:07:04 you know sometimes there's this thing
1:07:05 that niggles within some people's minds
1:07:07 and hearts
1:07:08 oh you know
1:07:10 this is this is very bad
1:07:12 you know but we have to remind ourselves
1:07:14 of something brothers and sisters how
1:07:15 does allah start every single single
1:07:17 chapter in the quran borrowing one every
1:07:19 single chapter including those chapters
1:07:20 that talk about punishment and talk
1:07:22 about hellfire allah starts with his
1:07:24 name's rahman rahim bismillahi
1:07:30 see that as a lens why is that in the
1:07:32 beginning of every single chapter of the
1:07:33 quran
1:07:34 have we ever thought about that
1:07:37 even the chapters which which give you
1:07:39 stark warnings of of you know not
1:07:41 following the truth
1:07:43 these this see as a filter brothers and
1:07:46 sisters
1:07:47 you know the mercy of allah is a filter
1:07:49 and read through that filter now
1:07:51 you know why is allah continuously
1:07:53 reminding us over and over again that
1:07:55 he's the most merciful his mercy is a
1:07:57 loving type of mercy that we can't even
1:07:59 just you know conceptualize
1:08:02 every single chapter you know use that
1:08:04 as a mean as a lens to then read the
1:08:06 rest of the chapter you know as a
1:08:08 preface to read the rest of the chapter
1:08:10 even the ayat on punishment
1:08:12 and when you really think about and
1:08:13 conceptualize it you realize
1:08:15 this this is
1:08:16 i mean
1:08:17 what else would you expect when allah
1:08:20 has given you the intellect he's given
1:08:22 you all of the tools he's given you a
1:08:23 heart
1:08:24 he's given you the ability to think
1:08:25 about things and conceive things he's
1:08:27 given you revelation he's continuously
1:08:29 given us revelation throughout history
1:08:31 he's made things easy for us all that's
1:08:33 been required of us is just to try
1:08:35 you know to acknowledge him be grateful
1:08:38 to him and just try being a good muslim
1:08:40 that's it
1:08:42 you know and in return allah gives you
1:08:43 paradise
1:08:45 what more i mean
1:08:46 then if someone deliberately turns away
1:08:48 from this truth knowingly would you
1:08:49 explore they expect
1:08:51 i mean
1:08:52 i don't know you know spanish
1:09:13 okay there's a couple of questions here
1:09:15 and we'll wrap up on this i think let me
1:09:17 see there's another one
1:09:32 allah says indeed satan promises the
1:09:33 human being of poverty
1:09:35 and one of the biggest poverty is not to
1:09:38 realize the gift of life the biggest
1:09:40 richness we all possess absolutely
1:09:43 you know
1:09:44 just the fact and i mean we should see
1:09:46 this as such a beautiful positive
1:09:48 challenge
1:09:49 as human beings that allah has given us
1:09:51 this opportunity
1:09:53 to attain paradise and to work for it
1:09:57 and we're not alone in the process if
1:09:59 we're sincere and honest allah is going
1:10:00 to be with us he's going to help us he's
1:10:02 going to support us
1:10:03 he's going to take care of us
1:10:05 you know and and that is
1:10:09 there's nothing else that fulfills the
1:10:11 soul more
1:10:13 than to struggle and strive in doing
1:10:14 something meaningful
1:10:16 that's when we're the most happiest when
1:10:18 we struggle and strive in doing
1:10:20 something meaningful even if that means
1:10:21 sacrificing things along the way
1:10:23 i mean think of through your life i'm
1:10:25 sure we've all got examples of this in
1:10:26 our life you know small achieve
1:10:29 sitting exams struggling staying up the
1:10:31 night you know not being able to eat
1:10:32 stressed out revising revising revising
1:10:34 dedicating time sacrificing time with
1:10:36 friends and when you sit the exam and
1:10:37 the results come out how satisfied were
1:10:40 you and if you could think back to any
1:10:41 moment in your life where you've really
1:10:43 felt you've achieved something i
1:10:45 guarantee
1:10:46 that previous to that was a period of
1:10:48 hardship and struggle
1:10:50 that's that's what that's what we've
1:10:52 that's what appeals to us that's what we
1:10:54 need as human beings so how beautiful is
1:10:57 that allah has given us an opportunity
1:10:58 here in this life to attain our paradise
1:11:00 you know and to try and attain the
1:11:02 highest levels of paradise
1:11:04 you know it's panda that's a that's a
1:11:05 gift man
1:11:06 no other creature of creation other than
1:11:08 the jinn and us we have that
1:11:10 you know and we want to just throw it
1:11:11 away
1:11:12 and think of it as something
1:11:13 insignificant and pointless and even see
1:11:15 in a negative way subhanallah
1:11:17 you know i mean we have to again yeah
1:11:19 you have to don't let shaytan get in
1:11:21 there really try to focus and
1:11:23 focus on clarifying the way we think
1:11:25 about these things inshallah
1:11:41 if
1:11:46 okay let's just let's do this as the
1:11:48 last question inshallah can we say for
1:11:50 certain that heaven and hell actually
1:11:52 exist it all of a sudden takes a jump
1:11:56 from the material world to the
1:11:58 metaphysical world
1:11:59 so here's why we as muslims first i'll
1:12:02 address this in a couple of ways here's
1:12:03 why we as muslims can say jannah and
1:12:05 jahannam actually exist okay
1:12:08 whatever their specific nature is and
1:12:11 the way they're constructed
1:12:13 what their quote-unquote material is if
1:12:16 they have
1:12:17 however whatever the substances that
1:12:18 they made of allah knows best in regards
1:12:20 to the details but they actually they
1:12:23 absolutely exist as realities okay not
1:12:25 just metaphors or anything like this
1:12:27 we believe this fundamentally because we
1:12:29 believe in the quran now once you
1:12:31 establish the quran is from allah
1:12:34 then whatever the quran says must
1:12:35 necessarily be true
1:12:37 because because it comes from the
1:12:39 all-knowing all-powerful eternal source
1:12:42 so logically
1:12:44 it's consistent
1:12:46 how do we establish the quran is from
1:12:47 allah i'm not going to go over in this
1:12:49 session here there's several uh live
1:12:51 streams on the sapiens institute website
1:12:54 i'm pretty sure they've probably done
1:12:56 several uh lives on the uh establishing
1:12:59 why the quran is from god and there's
1:13:01 several live streams i think on god's
1:13:02 existence as well so check those out
1:13:04 once you come to that conclusion then it
1:13:06 logically follows whatever god has said
1:13:07 is necessarily true so that's the
1:13:09 fundamental reason for us to believe in
1:13:11 jannah and jahannam realities that exist
1:13:13 beyond this material physical plane
1:13:16 okay
1:13:17 now this can be the concept generally in
1:13:20 the dao the concept of the hereafter
1:13:23 or the concept of anything literally
1:13:25 that's beyond the physical
1:13:27 is going to expect it to be difficult
1:13:29 for people to digest
1:13:31 or come to terms with because again we
1:13:32 live in a very materialistic world and
1:13:35 we're conditioned our psychology is
1:13:36 conditioned to think in a very
1:13:37 materialistic way it's very hard for us
1:13:41 to make that leap immediately
1:13:43 so
1:13:45 a few ways around this and i mentioned
1:13:47 this earlier utility is one big thing
1:13:51 the fitra is another thing right so
1:13:53 highlight to them
1:13:55 the beauty of such a place if they
1:13:57 wanted to you know to experience such a
1:13:59 reality you know you could also take the
1:14:01 angle of justice the concept of justice
1:14:03 that a just god everything at the end of
1:14:06 the day has to be equalized you know
1:14:07 those that have done good have to be
1:14:09 rewarded those that have done bad have
1:14:11 to be punished and that justice is not
1:14:13 meted out in this world it it never has
1:14:15 been
1:14:16 you know it it ultimate justice doesn't
1:14:19 take place in this world you would see
1:14:21 extremely good people
1:14:23 you know that that would that would you
1:14:25 know be put to death for something that
1:14:26 they didn't do or
1:14:28 you know um
1:14:30 whatever it is or use the other end you
1:14:32 see extremely bad people that probably
1:14:33 killed millions of people
1:14:35 not receive ultimate justice i mean
1:14:38 ultimate justice has to take place if
1:14:40 you believe in an or in a just god as we
1:14:43 do as muslims
1:14:45 you know
1:14:46 so it's it's that's another angle you
1:14:48 could take and some of these arguments
1:14:50 would appeal to the intuition uh to the
1:14:53 fitra some of these may appeal to the
1:14:54 the uncle so it really depends i mean
1:14:57 there's many ways we can address this
1:14:59 um but i think
1:15:01 there's other there's many other things
1:15:02 we can say in regards to this you know
1:15:04 for example but i don't get into too
1:15:05 much detail here but you know it's it's
1:15:07 fundamentally getting people to think in
1:15:10 the right way which is another challenge
1:15:12 seeing isn't always believing you know
1:15:14 science isn't the only way to truth
1:15:16 you know
1:15:17 not only the it isn't the case that just
1:15:19 just the things you can see and observe
1:15:21 and touch and taste are the things that
1:15:23 exist in reality there are other things
1:15:24 that exist
1:15:26 you know
1:15:27 many things around us that exist that we
1:15:28 can't pick up with our five senses that
1:15:31 we can only indirectly observe
1:15:33 through instruments and tools you know
1:15:35 electromagnetic waves
1:15:37 uh you know other types of radio waves
1:15:41 they're beyond the senses but we can
1:15:42 pick them up via tools and equipment but
1:15:44 you can't directly observe them they
1:15:46 exist you know so there's things beyond
1:15:49 what we can see you know that actually
1:15:52 exist
1:15:53 um
1:15:54 it's a funny world brothers and sisters
1:15:56 i mean if you really want to break it
1:15:57 down subhanallah
1:15:58 even the things that we see around us as
1:16:01 you know we you believe right now that
1:16:02 the computer screen you're looking at
1:16:04 actually exists yeah like the way you
1:16:06 see it
1:16:08 but what's really interesting this is
1:16:10 what science is telling us now if you go
1:16:12 down to an atomic level
1:16:15 most of it is empty space i think 80 to
1:16:16 90 is empty space
1:16:19 you know so
1:16:20 probably more 95 is empty space now how
1:16:23 does that work i mean it really messes
1:16:26 with your head when you think about from
1:16:27 these perspectives but again it goes
1:16:29 back to the point
1:16:30 it's arrogance we seem to
1:16:32 think you know one way arrogant about
1:16:35 the scientific method we're deluded in
1:16:36 regards to
1:16:38 reality you know we we acknowledge just
1:16:40 the material
1:16:42 and
1:16:45 it's it's it's it's gonna it's it's a
1:16:47 challenging time this place was the
1:16:48 challenging time to give dawah you know
1:16:51 but it's not impossible and there's ways
1:16:53 around it you know and there's some very
1:16:54 powerful ways around it
1:16:56 and humans we have to also remember that
1:16:58 humans aren't
1:17:00 just intellectual robots we're emotional
1:17:02 beings and emotions dictate a lot of
1:17:04 what we believe it's not logic or reason
1:17:07 you know we're emotional beings we look
1:17:09 for what's useful for us what impacts us
1:17:11 on an emotional level
1:17:13 you know so if you can share these
1:17:14 beautiful things about islam with them
1:17:16 and i've seen this happen
1:17:17 intellectuals you know academics
1:17:20 you know
1:17:21 really clever people what we consider to
1:17:23 be clever people today
1:17:25 you know some brothers and i've seen
1:17:26 this myself brothers who can't even
1:17:28 speak english properly english isn't
1:17:30 their first language they have an accent
1:17:32 they don't have the full vocabulary but
1:17:34 still
1:17:35 they remind people of the love of allah
1:17:37 they remind people of you know
1:17:39 having a connection with allah they
1:17:41 remind people of jannah
1:17:43 you know they talk about these things
1:17:44 and these people accept islam i've seen
1:17:46 this happen
1:17:47 you know so it's people aren't just
1:17:50 intellectual robots right there people
1:17:52 have a heart they have a fitra
1:17:53 um you know so it's about connecting
1:17:55 with people
1:17:57 and i think inshallah we'll wrap up
1:17:58 there may allah bless you guys
1:18:03 and
1:18:04 we will inshallah maybe do i'll probably
1:18:06 do
1:18:07 something i'll speak to him maybe do a
1:18:08 few more seminars at some point
1:18:09 inshallah on some related topics
1:18:12 and yeah well i bless you guys i hope
1:18:14 this was beneficial inshallah and
1:18:16 definitely if you haven't watched the
1:18:18 first seminar which we did last week if
1:18:20 you watch the first one then this one
1:18:21 will make much more sense
1:18:23 and really act upon it now inshallah you
1:18:25 know really try to act upon it let's try
1:18:27 to let's really try to help ourselves
1:18:29 first and foremost
1:18:31 focus in
1:18:33 start living this this purpose and start
1:18:36 to engage this purpose properly that
1:18:38 allah has told us and then go out and
1:18:40 share this with with others as well may
1:18:42 allah bless you guys speak to you guys
1:18:43 next time