The Prophetic Truth: Proving Muhammad's Prophethood (2017-09-20) ​

0:00:01 bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim
0:00:03 now we're going to be talking about
0:00:05 prophethood so we have reached the stage
0:00:08 where we are talking about our beloved
0:00:10 Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi
0:00:13 wasallam
0:00:13 now for me
0:00:16 after we've done both existence God's
0:00:19 oneness revelation why Allah deserves to
0:00:22 be worshipped you don't really need to
0:00:25 talk about prophethood per se because if
0:00:27 someone understands that allah subhanho
0:00:29 wa taala is a reality that allah subhana
0:00:32 wa ta'ala exists that he is one he's
0:00:35 uniquely one that he deserves to be
0:00:37 worshipped which means to love allah to
0:00:39 know Allah to obey Allah and to single
0:00:41 out and direct all of our internal and
0:00:44 external acts of worship to Allah alone
0:00:46 then it's done they should really
0:00:52 internalize the fact that their life now
0:00:54 is to align themselves and reconnect
0:00:56 themselves to Allah Subhanahu WA Ta'ala
0:00:58 yes you can add the prophethood section
0:01:01 as additional evidence but it also is
0:01:04 like a standalone argument it stands on
0:01:07 its own two feet from that point of view
0:01:09 and many times when I interact with
0:01:11 Christians or many different types of
0:01:13 human beings depending on who they are I
0:01:15 go straight to prophethood I go straight
0:01:19 to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
0:01:21 wasallam
0:01:22 now 1400 years ago the Prophet
0:01:27 sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came with a
0:01:31 profound message and that message was la
0:01:34 ilaha illaallah muhammaden-rasul allah
0:01:38 there is no deity worthy of worship but
0:01:42 Allah but the deity and Muhammad is the
0:01:46 final messenger sallallahu alayhi
0:01:48 wasallam so this was the message of the
0:01:50 Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam so we
0:01:54 can rationally investigate this message
0:01:57 and claim because he made a particular
0:01:59 claim that not only is Allah worthy of
0:02:02 worship not only is the no deity worthy
0:02:04 of worship but Allah but that Muhammad
0:02:07 sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his final
0:02:10 messenger so we could rush
0:02:12 investigate this claim and what we could
0:02:14 do we could go to the historical
0:02:15 narratives and the testimonies
0:02:17 concerning the life of our beloved
0:02:19 prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and
0:02:22 once we do this we'll be in a position
0:02:25 to make a conclusion about the
0:02:27 truthfulness of that claim is it the
0:02:30 prophetic truth is this statement the
0:02:34 prophetic truth based upon the
0:02:37 testimonies surrounding the life of the
0:02:40 prophet sallallaahu ie who are cinnamon
0:02:41 the historical narratives I believe we
0:02:43 have a very strong argument to say that
0:02:46 indeed Muhammad's claim sallallahu
0:02:48 alayhi wa sallam was a truthful one now
0:02:52 this argument is not just a rational
0:02:55 argument we haven't just made it up this
0:02:57 argument can be found in the book of
0:02:59 allah subhanho wa taala in the quran
0:03:00 itself because look what Allah says for
0:03:03 example in chapter 81 Allah says your
0:03:05 companion is not mad the Arabic word
0:03:09 here is quite interesting for companion
0:03:11 you know the Arabic word here that's
0:03:12 using the Quran so he become a lie
0:03:16 saying your companion is not mad now the
0:03:18 eloquence here is quite phenomenal the
0:03:22 eloquence is quite phenomenal why
0:03:24 because it's one word it undermines
0:03:26 their argument because Allah is not
0:03:28 saying your prophet is not mad Allah is
0:03:31 not saying Muhammad is not man Allah is
0:03:33 not saying your your your relative is
0:03:37 not mad Allah is not saying the this man
0:03:40 or your husband or your brother your
0:03:42 uncle is not man he's saying your
0:03:43 companion which has an element of
0:03:45 intimacy it's not just a friend but he's
0:03:48 your companion someone who knows you
0:03:51 intimately and Allah is trying to say to
0:03:53 them you've known this man for 40 years
0:03:55 he's been your companion you've eaten
0:03:58 with him you know about him you call him
0:04:00 the trustworthy so how can you see his
0:04:02 mad because only companions see the
0:04:06 first signs of madness like if you study
0:04:08 psychology or psychotherapy or
0:04:10 psychiatry the usually interview friends
0:04:13 and family people who are intimate with
0:04:16 that person from a social point of view
0:04:19 to find out how did he react to find out
0:04:24 what did he do in this
0:04:26 situation to find out any sign that may
0:04:28 lead to the conclusion that he is unwell
0:04:30 or mad do you see the point here so lie
0:04:33 saying your your argument is baseless
0:04:36 you're saying his mag but you're his
0:04:37 friend intimate companion you would have
0:04:40 known this don't us use this as some
0:04:43 kind of strategy to get out of trying to
0:04:46 understand this message because of your
0:04:48 ego don't clutter intellectual straws
0:04:52 right also Allah says in chapter 53 your
0:04:55 companion has not astray not has not
0:04:57 strayed he is not deluded he does not
0:05:00 speak from his own desire also allah
0:05:03 subhanho wa taala says Muhammad is the
0:05:05 Messenger of God so from this point of
0:05:07 view we could summarize the argument in
0:05:10 a logical form we could summarize the
0:05:12 argument in the following way
0:05:13 number 1 the prophet muhammad sallallahu
0:05:16 alayhi wa sallam was either a liar
0:05:18 deluded or speaking the truth
0:05:22 number 2 the prophet sallallahu alayhi
0:05:25 wasalam could not have been a liar or
0:05:27 deluded number 3 the conclusion
0:05:29 therefore the prophet sallallahu alayhi
0:05:32 wa sallam was speaking the truth so
0:05:34 let's address these possible
0:05:36 explanations ok so is the first possible
0:05:40 explanation that he was a liar well this
0:05:44 is not only counterintuitive but its
0:05:47 incongruent to all of the history that
0:05:49 we understand it really resists what we
0:05:53 understand about the historical
0:05:54 narratives and testimonies concerning
0:05:56 the life of the Prophet sallallahu
0:05:57 alayhi wasallam even from a
0:05:59 psychological profile point of view
0:06:01 because think about this he couldn't
0:06:03 have been a liar because he was known as
0:06:05 a trustworthy even his enemies would
0:06:08 trust him with their wealth with their
0:06:10 goods with their possessions so to claim
0:06:15 he is a liar really is not making sense
0:06:18 from a psychological and even social
0:06:19 perspective here what's very interesting
0:06:22 also is that he was persecuted for his
0:06:26 beliefs boycotted and exiled from his
0:06:29 beloved City he was stoned in tithe for
0:06:33 hours when the blood was running down
0:06:35 his legs the blood made his feet
0:06:39 stick to his sandals he was boycotted
0:06:42 and abused his companions were tortured
0:06:45 and murdered and killed right he was so
0:06:52 hungry because of the boycott that he
0:06:54 tied to stones to his stomach and he was
0:06:58 so brave even in battle because we know
0:07:02 that there were battles at the time of
0:07:05 the Prophet Muhammad upon whom be peace
0:07:06 he had to protect people under his wing
0:07:11 and these included Muslims and
0:07:13 non-muslims he had to be a statesman to
0:07:17 take care of people and in his battles
0:07:20 he was just and he was merciful and yet
0:07:24 he was very brave as well in the famous
0:07:27 battle of hunayn
0:07:28 what did he do when the arrows were
0:07:31 coming towards the army the the army his
0:07:36 companions had to inevitably retreat but
0:07:38 he was doable marching forward saying I
0:07:40 am NOT a liar I am The Messenger of
0:07:42 Allah such bravery so when we consider
0:07:46 the psychological profile how could we
0:07:48 claim his Alya because people would lie
0:07:50 their life or some kind of gain some
0:07:53 kind of wealth some kind of status and
0:07:56 you can't claim he basically was lying
0:08:00 for status because he was so humble so
0:08:04 many traditions stay that for months
0:08:07 he'll be on water and dates Ashford
0:08:09 ain't just water and dates
0:08:10 there'll be no smoke coming out the
0:08:12 house of his wife Aisha may Allah be
0:08:14 pleased with her correct what's also
0:08:19 very significant is that when the
0:08:22 prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was
0:08:23 invited to a house to eat rancid fat he
0:08:28 would accept the invitation and eat the
0:08:30 rancid fat he would say oh what a
0:08:35 wonderful curry vinegar is you should
0:08:38 dip his bread in in vinegar so much
0:08:43 humility when Arabs from outside of his
0:08:46 area came to visit him they would ask
0:08:49 the question
0:08:49 eina Muhammad where is Muhammad
0:08:52 because they didn't recognize him
0:08:54 because he wasn't kingly when an hour
0:08:57 came up to him and was was you know he
0:08:59 was shaken by his authority the prophet
0:09:03 sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said
0:09:05 basically don't worry I am the I am the
0:09:07 son of a Bedouin woman who used to eat
0:09:11 dried meat like I'm just like you and he
0:09:17 used to make a dorrance application for
0:09:19 humidity oh Allah make me humble make me
0:09:22 die amongst the humble right door to
0:09:26 this effect he made that type of
0:09:27 supplication and are so many narratives
0:09:30 about concerning his humanity so it
0:09:32 wasn't about status and look Who I am
0:09:34 II of course and was very interesting
0:09:37 they offered him money
0:09:40 riches women power land glory he
0:09:46 rejected all of it just for the simple
0:09:48 message of la ilaha illallah there is no
0:09:50 deity worthy of worship but the deity
0:09:53 but Allah subhana WA Ta'ala so he was
0:09:55 offered all of these things that he
0:09:56 rejected them and this is highly
0:09:59 significant from a psychological profile
0:10:00 point of view how can we claim is a liar
0:10:02 what lie he by Allah to claim he is a
0:10:05 liar is like claiming no one has spoken
0:10:08 the truth this is very very significant
0:10:13 here because our or not our but an
0:10:17 accusation or their accusation that he
0:10:19 was a liar
0:10:20 doesn't doesn't hold water doesn't hold
0:10:23 his ground cannot be justified just
0:10:26 based on these very simple arguments
0:10:29 just based on these very very simple
0:10:31 arguments and there's much more we could
0:10:32 talk about specifically that he wasn't a
0:10:34 liar but I think this is enough for now
0:10:37 and it's quite interesting that even
0:10:39 academics and orientalists testified to
0:10:42 this anyone who studies his life and
0:10:45 anyone who is sincere would testify that
0:10:48 he can't be a liar
0:10:49 for example Montgomery what he's the
0:10:52 late emeritus professor in Arabic and
0:10:54 Islamic studies in his book Mohammed at
0:10:56 Mecca he says his readiness concerning
0:10:58 the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
0:11:00 his readiness to undergo persecution for
0:11:03 his beliefs the high moral care
0:11:05 of the men who believed in him and
0:11:07 looked up to him as a leader and the
0:11:09 greatness of his ultimate achievement
0:11:11 all argue his fundamental integrity to
0:11:14 suppose Muhammad an impostor raises far
0:11:17 more problems than it solves
0:11:21 that's quite interesting you ask him did
0:11:24 he become Muslim there is an opinion I
0:11:25 believe about Montgomery war that he
0:11:28 believed that the Prophet Muhammad
0:11:29 sallallahu aleyhi was one was a prophet
0:11:31 but he had a theological issue that he
0:11:34 was sent just for the Arabs so the next
0:11:38 question is fine he wasn't lying but
0:11:40 maybe he was deluded now to argue that
0:11:43 someone is deluded is to argue the
0:11:44 following that he was misled into
0:11:47 believing he was the Messenger of God
0:11:49 and if someone is deluded they have a
0:11:51 strong conviction in the belief but they
0:11:54 have no evidence for it okay and another
0:11:57 way of looking at the issue of delusion
0:11:59 is that when someone is deluded they
0:12:01 speak falsehood while believing whilst
0:12:04 believing that it's true now there are
0:12:07 many arguments there is an accumulative
0:12:08 case we could build a case to show that
0:12:11 the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi assalam
0:12:12 salallahu alaihe son was not deluded
0:12:16 firstly there are incidents to support
0:12:20 that he couldn't be deluded because
0:12:22 Jerry is speaking someone who believes
0:12:27 in the same claim but has no evidence
0:12:29 for it usually looks for evidence right
0:12:32 that's what a deluded person does as
0:12:34 well and like they like to reaffirm
0:12:36 their belief even though there's hardly
0:12:39 any evidence to support their belief now
0:12:41 the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
0:12:43 he had sons and his sons died at early
0:12:47 age one particular son was Ibrahim and
0:12:51 when his son Ibrahim passed away there
0:12:55 was a an eclipse and the Arabs at the
0:12:58 time thought you must be the Prophet now
0:13:00 look how special you are because God
0:13:02 made the Eclipse happen because your son
0:13:05 Ibrahim passed away now one who's
0:13:09 deluded in some way would say yes you're
0:13:13 right I am The Messenger of God and
0:13:16 there are many examples in
0:13:18 his life that he could have used to
0:13:20 support a so good delusion but he didn't
0:13:23 look what he said he said the Sun and
0:13:26 Moon do not come together for anyone's
0:13:29 death amongst the people these are the
0:13:32 signs of God so from this point of view
0:13:36 when you look at the life of the prophet
0:13:38 sallallahu alayhi wasallam you see that
0:13:42 there are many incidences that he could
0:13:45 have used to support a so called
0:13:46 delusion but he didn't another argument
0:13:49 to show that the Prophet sallallahu
0:13:52 alayhi wasallam was not deluded is
0:13:54 actually his prophecies there are so
0:13:58 many prophecies that have come true the
0:14:03 prophet sallallaahu I li hua some has
0:14:06 prophesized things that happened he
0:14:09 prophesized things that would happen
0:14:10 after his death and hundreds of years
0:14:14 after his death so how could he be
0:14:17 deluded when these prophecies came true
0:14:19 and even from a statistical point of
0:14:21 view you can't even start to claim that
0:14:23 some kind of coincidence especially when
0:14:25 you add them up together here are some
0:14:26 examples the Mongol invasion now we know
0:14:31 the Mongol invasion was an eco
0:14:33 catastrophe for the Muslims in around
0:14:36 1250 a you had the ransacking of Baghdad
0:14:39 Baghdad at that time had thousands of
0:14:41 books hundreds of thousands of books it
0:14:43 was the center of the world's
0:14:45 universities education coexistence
0:14:50 debate intellectual culture and the
0:14:53 Mongols came and they ransacked
0:14:55 everything they massacred people and
0:14:58 they demolished the city up to 1 million
0:15:02 people were killed it was a massacre and
0:15:05 the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
0:15:09 foretold the mongol invasion and a
0:15:12 tradition narrated by Muslim is an
0:15:14 authentic tradition he said the Allah
0:15:17 will not be established to you fight
0:15:19 from a people amongst the non-arabs
0:15:22 there will be a red faces flat noses and
0:15:25 small eyes their faces would look like
0:15:28 flat shields and their shoes would be
0:15:30 made of
0:15:31 what's very interesting the Mongol army
0:15:34 they had a unique furry boots hairy
0:15:37 boots and it was called big t big t now
0:15:42 I always say to people if this is not
0:15:44 the Mongol army then I'm Nigerian right
0:15:48 oh I'm Chinese or I'm something totally
0:15:50 different than you would think right
0:15:52 because this is such a apt and concise
0:15:57 description of the Mongols also we have
0:16:02 another very famous prophetic tradition
0:16:04 where the Prophet Muhammad upon whom be
0:16:06 peace he said and this is narrated by
0:16:07 Bukhari it's an authentic tradition that
0:16:10 you see barefoot unclothed bedouin arabs
0:16:14 competing in the construction of two
0:16:16 buildings now this was a response to
0:16:22 questioning the sign of the end days the
0:16:25 the day of judgement and the prophet
0:16:27 sallallaahu ayat even some said one of
0:16:29 the signs is that you see bear for
0:16:31 unclothed Bedouins competing in the
0:16:33 construction of tor buildings now this
0:16:35 is very interesting because if you were
0:16:36 a rationalist at that time you think the
0:16:39 one who's competing in two buildings
0:16:40 would be the super powers of the time
0:16:41 which were the Romans and the Persians
0:16:43 the Arabs in many cases used to build
0:16:45 buildings in the ground because it was
0:16:47 so hot some of the houses were in the
0:16:49 ground and they just had tents now the
0:16:54 profit upon you be peace saying look you
0:16:56 know the Bedouin Arabs would compete
0:16:59 into a buildings and look what we have
0:17:00 today in the UAE united arab arab
0:17:04 emirates in Dubey you have the tallest
0:17:07 building in the world which is over 800
0:17:08 feet high scored the Burj Khalifa and
0:17:11 relatively recently the Saudis another
0:17:14 bid doing group weather originally where
0:17:16 Bedouins they said they're gonna build
0:17:18 the tallest building in the world in
0:17:19 2019 and it's gonna be one kilometer
0:17:22 high and they're both from Bedouins and
0:17:25 they were unclothed and there were
0:17:28 Bedouin Arabs another competing in two
0:17:30 buildings now one would argue
0:17:32 yeah the Muslims have just done this
0:17:34 just to prove this tradition
0:17:37 you know the the Muslims done this just
0:17:40 just to just to basically you know prove
0:17:44 this tradition whether to
0:17:45 counter-arguments number one why would
0:17:48 someone be a deliberate sign for the end
0:17:51 of times number two did they also
0:17:55 construct the social political landscape
0:17:59 in order to have enough oil to have lots
0:18:01 of money to be able to basically build
0:18:03 these two buildings did they also make
0:18:06 up the fact that they'll be rich they
0:18:08 just became rich only 50 or 50 or 60
0:18:10 years ago so I can hear they just made
0:18:12 this up because in order for the two
0:18:15 buildings to be built they the social
0:18:17 economic circumstances had to be place
0:18:19 already in place already yes brother
0:18:24 also which is very interesting many of
0:18:26 the bad doings they'd ever know about
0:18:29 this prophetic tradition as well and
0:18:33 that's why we're saying if this will
0:18:35 make me I guess work on his part the
0:18:38 discovery of oil will represent a
0:18:39 massive stroke of luck because you have
0:18:42 to also understand that before you could
0:18:46 have this these amazing buildings that
0:18:47 you're competing with competing against
0:18:50 each other that you have to say that
0:18:51 basically there was the right
0:18:52 socio-economic circumstance in place
0:18:54 before that can happen and as we said
0:18:58 before if the prophet muhammad
0:19:00 sallallaahu idea here are some we're
0:19:01 merely guessing it wouldn't have made
0:19:04 more sense to relate this prophecy to
0:19:06 the superpowers of his time namely the
0:19:08 persians and the romans also was very
0:19:12 interesting there's another prophetic
0:19:13 tradition where the prophet muhammad
0:19:15 sallallaahu idea was Merced that one of
0:19:18 the signs of the last hour if you like
0:19:20 Assad at the last hour is that you would
0:19:24 see tunnels built in Mecca and you see
0:19:26 it's buildings taller than its mountains
0:19:29 so therefore know that the matter is
0:19:31 close at hand I went to Hajj like around
0:19:33 three years ago and I walked through
0:19:35 these Tunney's tunnels there are
0:19:37 piercings and the mountains of Mecca and
0:19:39 also the buildings are taller then the
0:19:44 mountains themselves
0:19:50 the hadith the reference I'll give you
0:19:52 the reference data we don't have you
0:19:53 hereby it's it's it's in one of the
0:19:55 traditions so that's a very clever point
0:20:06 did you hear what the brother said he
0:20:08 said bow was very interesting as well
0:20:11 if someone's to disprove the hadith of
0:20:13 the two buildings that the Arabs are
0:20:15 competing with on another one another
0:20:16 well what can happen is that someone
0:20:20 from the from the non-arabs should be
0:20:22 competing with them as well right which
0:20:26 would break down the prophetic tradition
0:20:28 that's another interesting insight and
0:20:31 there are many many other traditions to
0:20:33 be honest right there is even in a
0:20:35 tradition in at-tabari ani and i think
0:20:38 it's in the book ki temple fittin and
0:20:40 this is a weak tradition by the way so
0:20:43 in terms of authenticity it's not that
0:20:45 strong I like to mention it because even
0:20:47 a weak tradition is very powerful now
0:20:50 the tradition in october oniy in qatar
0:20:52 fittin basically says and i'm
0:20:53 paraphrasing that there will be dishes
0:20:56 and they will be communicating
0:20:58 constantly and then people will break
0:21:00 the ties of kingship
0:21:02 I repeat there will be dishes
0:21:04 communicating constantly and P will
0:21:06 break the ties of kinship and the word
0:21:11 for dishes is literally a dish and the
0:21:14 word that's used now the word for
0:21:16 satellites and their dishes and they
0:21:18 communicate TV and there's a
0:21:20 peer-reviewed journal it's actually in
0:21:22 my book I give you the reference that is
0:21:24 a peer-reviewed journal academic journal
0:21:26 that says there is a correlation between
0:21:27 people saying our home watching
0:21:28 satellite TV and not having communal
0:21:31 family ties anymore you just don't make
0:21:34 this stuff up and this is a weak
0:21:35 tradition from a historical point of
0:21:37 view and there are many more these are
0:21:39 just examples there are many more that
0:21:41 build the case there are many more that
0:21:43 build the case so it is no wonder that
0:21:48 the historian dr. William Draper said
0:21:51 the following he said four years after
0:21:53 the death of Justinian ad five six nine
0:21:56 was born in Mecca in Arabia the man who
0:21:59 of all
0:22:00 men has exercised the greatest influence
0:22:02 on the upon the human race to be the
0:22:04 religious head of many empires to guide
0:22:07 the daily life of one-third of the human
0:22:09 race may perhaps justify the title a
0:22:11 Messenger of God now the first point is
0:22:17 there are some objections there are
0:22:20 objects as his argument because we know
0:22:21 he couldn't be lying
0:22:22 he couldn't be deluded so therefore he
0:22:25 was speaking the truth
0:22:26 but let's be a little bit more academic
0:22:28 here one of the objections include well
0:22:31 this is just legendary yes mr. George's
0:22:34 you have all of these historical
0:22:38 narratives and testimonies but they're
0:22:40 based on legend they don't have a
0:22:43 historical foundation okay now this is a
0:22:47 gross ignorance a gross ignorance on the
0:22:50 way the Islamic scholars preserved
0:22:52 history and I'd only get to that
0:22:55 academia behind this because we'll have
0:22:56 to spend a whole day together well give
0:22:58 you some references I just want to
0:23:01 illustrate something to you I want to
0:23:02 draw draw draw now two pictures okay I
0:23:06 want to give you two scenarios just be
0:23:09 rational put your rational thinking hats
0:23:11 on imagine what all historians and what
0:23:17 we do we travel to this amazing place
0:23:20 with these mountains and there is a
0:23:25 desert this place is called Egypt
0:23:33 and we know from other history that
0:23:36 there was a certain king living in the
0:23:39 area and there was a certain political
0:23:45 political climate and what we do we
0:23:48 happen to find a letter and it's signed
0:23:54 by the king
0:24:00 and this letter doesn't really go
0:24:03 against the political social
0:24:04 circumstances of the time we can
0:24:06 carbon-date the letter and it's around
0:24:09 the period so we can somewhat consider
0:24:14 this as some valid history correct
0:24:17 correct
0:24:18 good so you accept this as history
0:24:21 brilliant now let me give you a slightly
0:24:24 different scenario very similar by it an
0:24:27 enhanced scenario we travel to a land
0:24:31 with mountains in a desert it's in Egypt
0:24:33 we know there was a king at that time we
0:24:35 sent polish social-political
0:24:36 circumstances we find a letter it's
0:24:39 signed by the king the letter doesn't go
0:24:42 against the social political
0:24:43 circumstances of the time but with this
0:24:46 letter what do we have in addition we
0:24:49 have some additional factors we have an
0:24:52 analysis of the text a linguistic
0:24:58 analysis and a historical analysis of
0:25:00 the text we also have a chain of
0:25:04 narration concerning the source of the
0:25:07 letter that a toad B be toad si si toady
0:25:13 they did come from the king and we have
0:25:16 other biographies of all of these people
0:25:18 to suggest that they were trustworthy
0:25:20 and speaking the truth do you accept
0:25:22 this as history which is stronger the
0:25:25 first scenario the second scenario
0:25:27 second scenario well done the first
0:25:29 scenario describes Western history
0:25:31 the second scenario describes Islamic
0:25:33 history we are very robust in the way we
0:25:36 preserve our tradition now there are
0:25:39 other contentious and academia behind
0:25:40 this but we could leave that aside for
0:25:42 now but generally speaking that's the
0:25:44 scenario so it's a gross
0:25:46 misunderstanding of Islamic history in
0:25:50 the whip we preserve is is I make
0:25:52 history another argument is well this
0:25:55 whole thing is unsound logic it doesn't
0:25:57 make sense logically it doesn't follow
0:26:00 logically because there is another
0:26:02 option that's what they say fine you're
0:26:04 saying he couldn't be lying
0:26:05 he couldn't be deluded therefore he's
0:26:07 speaking the truth that's unsound logic
0:26:09 it's a non sequitur it doesn't logically
0:26:11 follow because there's another
0:26:13 and they say well the Prophet Muhammad
0:26:17 upon whom be peace was not lying from
0:26:19 the perspective of being immoral so it
0:26:21 was a moral lie so that's an alternative
0:26:24 option right so what they argue is he
0:26:27 was falsely attributed to himself
0:26:29 prophethood for a greater good and as a
0:26:32 social reformer he believed he had to
0:26:35 make such a radical claim that he was a
0:26:37 Messenger of God to transform the
0:26:39 immoral and decadent society he was
0:26:42 living in and it wouldn't make him
0:26:44 deluded if he was basically a moral liar
0:26:48 because he knew that he was not speaking
0:26:51 the truth and he would not make him a
0:26:53 liar because he was lying for moral
0:26:55 reason right so therefore he would be a
0:26:59 moral reformer and like most more of
0:27:02 reformers he had to choose the lesser of
0:27:04 two evils right this is a very
0:27:06 interesting counter-argument but it's a
0:27:09 false misplaced argument because it's
0:27:12 irrational to assert that I claim to
0:27:14 prophethood will be required to make the
0:27:17 necessary moral changes in actual fact
0:27:19 he's claimed to prophethood was the very
0:27:23 thing that prevented him to making moral
0:27:25 changes in the first place that's the
0:27:27 point he could have still become a moral
0:27:31 reformer but basically used some other
0:27:34 type of moral lie or white lie right but
0:27:38 the very fact that he claimed that he
0:27:40 was a prophet hood initially prevented
0:27:42 him from gaining any ground in the first
0:27:43 place he was mocked ridiculed and abused
0:27:46 so era 4 will not make such a claim
0:27:49 especially if that claim created far
0:27:52 more obstacles and reaching his
0:27:53 objective also the Prophet Muhammad
0:27:55 sallallaahu alayhi wasalam went through
0:27:57 immense hardships yeah he did not
0:28:00 sacrifice his message if a reformer had
0:28:03 to make the lesser of two evils why
0:28:05 would he he allow his companions to be
0:28:07 tortured abused and killed why would he
0:28:09 be starving to death why would he be
0:28:11 abused where what happened to the lesser
0:28:14 of two evils algorithm that he was using
0:28:16 he wasn't using it for this this issue
0:28:18 and what's very interesting is this that
0:28:22 he wasn't a moral reformer per se he
0:28:25 main objective was about worship he was
0:28:28 a spiritual reformer and this is the
0:28:32 interesting point here and what's
0:28:35 interesting as well if he was choosing a
0:28:37 less of two evils and he was a moral
0:28:38 reformer then why didn't he accept
0:28:41 conditional political power he was
0:28:43 offered conditional political power but
0:28:46 he rejected it so this claim doesn't
0:28:48 make any sense at all now I wanna
0:28:53 quickly just browse through some of his
0:28:54 teachings because when we consider that
0:28:57 he wasn't a liar
0:28:58 and he wasn't deluded his teaching
0:29:00 support that his teaching support if we
0:29:03 analyze his teachings I'm a true
0:29:04 believer if you're not a reductionist
0:29:06 that you don't reduce the teachings to
0:29:07 one or two hadith but you understand the
0:29:09 context and you see the the whole corpus
0:29:11 of teachings together it's impossible to
0:29:14 claim he is a liar and it's impossible
0:29:16 to claim that he was deluded for example
0:29:19 consider the teachings on mercy and
0:29:21 compassion I'm not gonna read this out
0:29:23 to you all but consider that the Prophet
0:29:26 Muhammad upon whom be peace said God is
0:29:28 compassionate and loves compassion the
0:29:32 Prophet Muhammad upon whom be peace said
0:29:33 the merciful one shows mercy to those
0:29:36 who are themselves merciful to others so
0:29:38 show mercy to whatever Muslim non-muslim
0:29:41 animal ever is show mercy on earth and
0:29:45 he was in heaven will show mercy to you
0:29:48 about contentment and speech
0:29:51 spirituality the Prophet Muhammad upon
0:29:53 whom be peace said richness is not
0:29:55 having many possessions rather true
0:29:57 richness is the richness of the soul
0:30:04 what about love the Prophet Muhammad
0:30:06 upon him he said love for linen s love
0:30:09 for Humanity what you love for yourself
0:30:11 this is narrated by Bukhari found in
0:30:13 Tariq al kabir he also said and this can
0:30:17 be found an even headband the servant of
0:30:19 God does not reach the reality of faith
0:30:21 into he loves for the people what he
0:30:24 lost for himself also very famous I
0:30:28 really love this tradition by the one
0:30:30 who has my soul in his hand you will not
0:30:33 enter the garden until you believe and
0:30:35 you will not believe it you love one
0:30:38 another
0:30:38 shall I point out to use something which
0:30:41 will make you love one another if you do
0:30:42 it make the greeting of peace be wipe
0:30:45 the white spread among you about
0:30:49 community and peace the Prophet Mohammed
0:30:53 was asked what sort of deeds or traits
0:30:56 of Islam are goods The Messenger of God
0:30:58 replied to feed others and to greet
0:31:01 those whom you know and those whom you
0:31:03 do not know by God he does not truly
0:31:10 believe the Prophet said upon him be
0:31:12 peace by God he is not truly believe he
0:31:14 repeat this three times and that someone
0:31:16 asked who all Messenger of God
0:31:17 he said he whose neighbor is not safe
0:31:21 from his mischief a neighbor
0:31:23 neighborliness from the Islamic point of
0:31:24 view is your whole community 40 houses
0:31:27 the left 40 hazard to the right and in
0:31:29 the modern times 40 houses above 40
0:31:32 houses below and it includes Muslim and
0:31:34 non-muslim so you should have no
0:31:37 mischief that's why the teachings of the
0:31:39 Prophet Muhammad are so against any form
0:31:41 of extremism about charity
0:31:44 humanitarianism charity does not
0:31:47 diminish well feed the sick feed the
0:31:49 hungry and free the captives what
0:31:53 character and good manners the believers
0:31:57 who show the most perfect faith are both
0:31:59 for the best character and the best of
0:32:01 view of those who are best to their
0:32:02 wives God has revealed to me that you
0:32:05 should adopt humility so no one
0:32:08 oppresses each other no one oppresses
0:32:10 another so many of these teachings even
0:32:13 about animals and and in the environment
0:32:16 room
0:32:16 moving harmful things from the road is
0:32:18 an act of charity whoever kills a
0:32:23 sparrow or anything bigger than that
0:32:25 without a just cause God would hold him
0:32:28 account on the Day of Resurrection
0:32:30 a prostitute saw dog thirsty on a hot
0:32:33 day and his tongue was hanging from
0:32:36 thirst
0:32:37 she drew some water from it from her
0:32:39 shoe for it for the dog
0:32:41 she drew water in her shoe to feed the
0:32:44 dog to quench dog's thirst and Allah
0:32:47 forgave her and gave her paradise and
0:32:52 who could go through his character
0:32:53 there's so many view for teachings
0:32:55 concerning the character of the Prophet
0:32:57 Muhammad upon whom be peace one
0:32:59 particular that comes in into mind that
0:33:00 relates to people like me and you on how
0:33:02 we interact with the rest of the
0:33:04 community is that he had him forbearance
0:33:08 that he responded to evil with that
0:33:10 which was better and we gave many
0:33:12 stories in the past few days we give
0:33:15 many stories concerning this but just to
0:33:17 remind you what the Quran says Allah
0:33:18 says good and evil are not equal respond
0:33:23 to evil that which is better and the
0:33:26 enmity between you and another person
0:33:28 will change will transform into an
0:33:31 intimate bosom friendship so Muslims
0:33:34 should be forbearing tolerate harm and
0:33:37 aggression and to respond to negativity
0:33:41 and evil with positivity and goodness
0:33:44 and will create a more harmonious
0:33:45 society and this really was a key
0:33:48 characteristic of prophethood and of the
0:33:50 Prophet Muhammad upon whom be peace so
0:33:52 just to end epistemologically okay from
0:33:58 the point of view of knowledge and of
0:34:00 truth if you reject Muhammad upon whom
0:34:04 be peace it is epistemically equivalent
0:34:07 of rejecting your mother gave birth to
0:34:08 you honestly because what evidence do
0:34:13 you have that your mother gave birth to
0:34:15 you what evidence do you have
0:34:19 all you have is your mother's testimony
0:34:22 really you don't have a DNA test
0:34:25 certificate and even if you do you
0:34:28 didn't do the DNA test yourself so still
0:34:29 testimonial because this certificate you
0:34:31 have to rely on the state of others rely
0:34:34 on the testament of your father the
0:34:36 testimony of your mother
0:34:37 testimony of the birth certificate even
0:34:40 if you claim your photos or videos that
0:34:42 doesn't make sense because you have to
0:34:43 rely on the testimony that that person
0:34:45 in the videos and photos is actually you
0:34:47 so you have is testimony I'm not
0:34:50 rejecting it as a source of knowledge of
0:34:51 course not if you study epistemology
0:34:53 it's a valid source of knowledge but I'm
0:34:55 saying you just have four or five
0:34:56 testimonies but compare that to what we
0:34:59 just discussed whose thorough car
0:35:01 narrative testimonies psychological
0:35:03 profile the weight of evidence is
0:35:06 greater than the evidence that you have
0:35:08 to claim that your mother gave birth to
0:35:09 you so epistemologically epistemically
0:35:12 if you reject the Prophet Muhammad upon
0:35:16 whom be peace as a prophet its
0:35:18 epistemically equivalent of rejecting
0:35:20 that your mother gave birth to you and
0:35:21 let me end with the story I came from
0:35:26 abroad once I was abroad doing some
0:35:29 lectures and when I came back I felt
0:35:31 really just dissing hearten with this
0:35:32 type of work and after fajr after the
0:35:35 morning prayer i made dua supplication
0:35:37 and I really prayed to Allah
0:35:39 specifically o Allah show me a sign this
0:35:41 is the type of work I should be doing
0:35:43 you know strengthen my heart kind of
0:35:44 thing and I said I gave a very specific
0:35:47 sign I said I'm gonna have a debate in
0:35:51 the evening creamer University
0:35:52 University with Professor Graham
0:35:54 Thompson after the debate or during the
0:35:56 debate let someone become a Muslim I was
0:35:59 so specific and one and if you study our
0:36:02 spiritual tradition when you mix
0:36:03 supplications to God you have to believe
0:36:05 they're gonna come true and you have to
0:36:07 believe that he has the ability
0:36:08 sometimes we're very kind of blase with
0:36:11 our supplications oh god if you can if
0:36:13 you can and you know just do this
0:36:15 generally and you know we're scared it's
0:36:18 as if we're talking to someone who has
0:36:19 no ability so have a relationship with
0:36:21 Allah so I made that specific
0:36:24 supplication
0:36:25 the evening comes I had the debate with
0:36:27 Professor Graham Thompson I really
0:36:28 believe that my doors gonna be answered
0:36:31 half Greek half Serbian I could
0:36:33 Raj comes Queen Mary University he comes
0:36:36 up to me after the debate
0:36:37 there's the lectern or the table there's
0:36:39 lots of people surrounding me know that
0:36:41 many but there's some brothers they were
0:36:42 having a discussion and he says you know
0:36:44 I find it sound quite compelling you
0:36:46 know I read some of the literature but I
0:36:48 wouldn't know more about the Prophet
0:36:49 Muhammad upon whom be peace I'm quite
0:36:51 unsure and we had a very long discussion
0:36:53 I think it's about an hour and a half
0:36:54 standing up in the same auditorium was
0:36:57 giving evidence having discussions with
0:36:59 him and I was like I I know I can feel
0:37:01 it there's something about his face that
0:37:03 you know the nor the light is there
0:37:04 right and I was discussing with him and
0:37:08 then I was getting a bit you know alpha
0:37:10 male Greek like yeah I said look let me
0:37:13 be very honest with you right freedom of
0:37:16 religion freedom of belief there's no
0:37:18 full saying but let me just say
0:37:19 something you are a man of integrity
0:37:21 you're in it you're a man of
0:37:23 intellectual integrity and I said to him
0:37:27 how do you know your mother gave birth
0:37:28 to you and I gave all the evidence for
0:37:31 the Prophet Muhammad upon rupees
0:37:32 something very similar we heard today
0:37:34 and I said to him Sid you an amount of
0:37:36 amount of integrity
0:37:37 I don't mind don't believe is this all
0:37:39 problem but at least do me a favor and
0:37:42 be intellectually just and I threw my
0:37:45 blackberry phone I had a blackberry for
0:37:47 another time I video.if through my phone
0:37:48 I haven't said phone your mom and say
0:37:50 mom I have to doubt that you gave birth
0:37:52 to me because I'm doubting something
0:37:55 with more evidence so do it at least do
0:37:58 that for me because I just want you to
0:37:59 be sincere and have intellectual
0:38:02 integrity I'm not telling you to believe
0:38:04 by at least follow through the
0:38:06 implications of what you've just
0:38:07 rejected so he became Muslim and this
0:38:12 guy masha'Allah he is one of the most
0:38:15 beautiful brothers I know his o'clock
0:38:17 his uh dub is second to none and he
0:38:20 loves his mom like no one else it has a
0:38:23 very special love and a very special
0:38:24 care for his mother every time I see him
0:38:26 I feel humbled because of who he is as a
0:38:28 personality so from a philosophical
0:38:32 point of view if it's true that this is
0:38:35 all the evidence for the Prophet
0:38:36 Muhammad being the final prophet and
0:38:38 this is the only evidence you have for
0:38:39 your mother giving birth to you then I'm
0:38:41 an epistemic point of view rejecting the
0:38:44 Prophet Muhammad appoint upon whom be
0:38:45 peace is the equivalent
0:38:47 is tantamount to rejecting your mother
0:38:48 gave birth team so to summarize the
0:38:52 argument the prophet sallallaahu anyone
0:38:54 had a claim that claim was a claim of
0:38:56 prophethood he wasn't lying
0:38:58 he wasn't deluded he must have been
0:39:00 speaking the truth but what's most
0:39:02 significant we need to become
0:39:03 ambassadors to the message of the
0:39:05 Prophet Muhammad upon whom be peace to
0:39:06 internalize his message which is one of
0:39:08 compassion one of fairness one of
0:39:12 tolerance and getting people to
0:39:14 reconnect themselves back to the Creator
0:39:15 Allah subhana wa tada