The Moderate Muslim - Dr. Bilal Philips

[Music] hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen salatu was-salam ala rasulina kareem other and he was happy or menaced and Nevison that he Diomedes our praises due to Allah and may Allah s peace and blessings be on the last prophet muhammad sallallahu aleyhi we sellem and on all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day the moderate Muslim the moderate Muslim is the true Muslim because Islam is a religion of moderation of course the issues of moderation have to be according to divine revelation because terminologies may vary when used in different contexts what may be considered moderate in one context may be considered extreme in another context this is one of the challenges that we were faced with today so it's very important when we talk about the moderate Muslim and moderation in Islam that we add the concept or the context of Revelation this becomes okay this becomes this becomes the criterion by which we judge what is moderate and what is not because if we leave it up to human beings to determine what is moderate and what is not then we will get a variety of different views today yesterday and tomorrow and in Malaysia in Europe in Africa in China where wherever you go around the world these views as to what is moderate and what is not will change so then what is objectively moderate how do we establish an objective criterion and not judge moderation according to subjective basis the only way is to go according to revelation and we are talking about the moderate Muslim therefore the revelation was speaking about is the Quran and the Sunna what constitutes moderation according to the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah when allah subhanaw taala said in the quran yeah a little key table élitaire hulu fede nico all people of the scripture do not become extreme in your religion when the Prophet SAW assalam said Yaakov on Hulu beware of extremism for those who came before you were destroyed because of their extremism when the Quran and the Sunna addressed this issue of extremism and by doing so calls us to moderation moderation meaning a middle position neither to one extreme or to the other a middle position a balanced position that we are not off balance when you're off balance you're leaning to one side or you're leading to the other side you're off balance so it's that balance position which Allah described the Muslim Ummah the true Muslim Ummah in accordance with when he said vaca dalek Ajanaku mu matin wasit ah in that way we have made you I have made you a balanced nation a middle nation middle here meaning middle between the extremes balanced so when we look into the practice of Islam and this is especially important for those who newly come to Islam who enter into Islam and find Muslims doing a number of different things things which might seem extreme to them doesn't seem to make sense why are people doing this so why are they doing that and why are they upset about this and why they're upset about that you know why are they practicing this and why are they practicing that we need to have some criteria to be able to work out what in fact is that balanced Islam the Islam which is neither to one extreme or to another that is the struggle that many new Muslims today newly converted Muslims or reverted Muslims whatever term you'd like to use they're faced with this so on the level Martita on the level of belief in allah because the issue of balance begins here how do you perceive allah what is man's or human the human relationship between Allah and his creatures what is that relationship what is the basis of that relationship here we have different groups movements sects who promote a distorted view of that relationship distorted by promoting extremes which are not in keeping with the fundamental teachings of Islam so for example we have those who claim that Islam has an outer and an inner this has to do with our concepts basic concepts that there is a hidden part of Islam that is not known to people and there's an outer obvious part the outer obvious they call Sharia we all know that one the Sharia and the inner hidden one they called the capito the Sharia and the papica okay Sheree I you all know Sharia Islamic law this is what is you required to practice and then haqiqa literally it means reality the reality of Islam the inner reality of Islam this haqiqa you will not find in the books of sharia you can study them your whole life and you'll never find it this haqiqa has to be taught to you by a special chick who got that knowledge from other special ships who got it from other special ships and they trace this back for example to abu bakr radiallahu anhu when he was in the cave with rasoolallah saliva Salim on the way to Medina when he was in that cave they claimed the prophet sallallaahu lives and them taught abu bakr a happy cow now the rest of the Sahaba they only knew the Shariah but abu bakr knew the happy cow and he passed this on to one who passed it on to one who passed it on till it comes down to these particular shares that are around today now this is a view and there are many muslims who subscribe to this view we have to ask ourselves is this the true view of Islam is this what Islam is or is this extreme this is the point because people will be selling this there will be promoting it well how do we know how do we know it's not true tell me how do we know if it's true or not how are we supposed to figure it out hmmm tell me somebody put your hand up and tell me hmm we won't know so it means then our religion is so confused that we won't be able to even know whether this claim is true or false what happened to sirat al-mustaqim what happened to that straight path that we pray for 17 times a day if we can't know what is the truth of this matter there has to be a way how do we know ah the Quran and the Sunnah didn't the prophets allah wa sallam say Tarak to become a marine Intimus act on bahama lento dalou ibadah kitab allah was so naughty I left with you two things if you hold on firmly to them you will never go astray in some narrations you said if you bite on to them with your molars then you're not just your front teeth you just take a little bite you bite on firmly so it's in your mouth you cannot let go your own bite on firmly to it you will never go astray it doesn't mean you'll never sin it's different situation but you will never go astray from sirat al-mustaqim that's the point that is your means of determining whether this Dawa this call to the haqiqa and the Sharia is true or false so when we go to the Quran do we find there any verse which tells us about a hidden secret islam known only to special people or does it talk in general terms in the maya Shalom in a body he'll arama those who truly fear allah from among his worshippers are those with knowledge did he say secret knowledge just as those with knowledge knowledge of what knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah straightforward so what did he say about the secret meetings you know where they have special secrets handed down only to special people what did what did the Quran say about secret meetings he said what Allah said what Lahaie refika fear in managua who most of their secret meetings are evil those who call to a secret Islam evil so Allah said unless they're gathering to give sadaqa okay you want to give saw the car nobody knows about it because that is the higher level of Sapa so you gather together so that you can give this subtle car without anybody knowing except for this small group that are involved in it okay they're excused but the rest of the secret meetings Allah says love higher efika theorem Managua there's no good in it it's evil because this is the area where Shaitaan works Satan works in secrecy when you have a secret small group you can a Satan can put an idea in that group and because it's a secret group closed upon itself they cannot take advice from those who are knowledgeable around them they've closed their ears to them because they are that secret group and you know the peer pressure of a secret group is such that if somebody suggest something in the secret group and you in your heart you feel there's something not right about this but because everybody else accepted it you feel pressured and so you will accept it you don't want to go against your brothers or your sisters so you'll go along with it even though in your heart you felt something was wrong and guess what then what next you help the same thing and the one next to you and all around is only the one who put that evil idea is the one who was sure about it everybody else had doubts but because they're looking around and they see everybody else putting their hand up supporting so they went along they all went along with something which inside their hearts they felt wasn't right that is the nature of the secret meetings that's why the Masonic Order all of you know I heard about the Masons right the Masons that's why they're evil now for the people inside of that secret group they will get benefits just as the Masons amongst themselves they benefit each other that's why people become instance if you're amazing you get into the courthouse you've got a court case which is being judged and the judge is amazing he sees you have that ring on your finger you give them the hand signal confirming I'm one then you won the case so you benefit it should is benefit in it but it's evil to the society it's fundamentally evil to the society people are cheated of the rights straight so the secret groups people who call to secrecy no transparency beware if when you become a Muslim people are calling you to secret meetings beware avoid them maybe there are people who give you Shahada and you feel they're good people they're nice people okay so you go with them initially but with you if they're not gathering together to give sadaqa to go do some good thing for the society they're plotting and planning and secrecy avoid them this is the sign of extremism satanic extremism furthermore prophet muhammad sallahu wa salaam when you go to his sunnah he said very clearly tarik to Kamala Mahad Jatin Bader I left you on a clear white plane land Oaxaca Niharika whose night is like its day so clear whether you're in night or urine date crystal-clear lies even her Allah Halleck and anyone who deviates from that is destroyed so what does that say it's saying there was no secret Islam no inner haqiqa this is a lie a satanic tale which is used to trap people and take them into Satanism in another form it's not open Satanism in another form you know and that's why when you hear in the society about bomo and you see what the bomo people are doing it's all secret stuff and it's satanic stuff this is not Islam they have you doing all kinds of secret rituals going to the graveyard slaughtering a chicken whatever so the inner and the outer no this is a lie it is an extreme portrayal of Islam also you will find in this movement assignments which they will give you of repeating certain duas or vicars names of Allah something like this they will tell you to do it a thousand times after every one of your prayers they'll have thicker beads that are many wrapped around them like you know the military guys were carrying their guns they have these bandoliers of bullets they have that you know big thicker beings wrapped around so many times around themselves and they will promise you things you say this thing about sometimes on so you will get powers and saint so-and-so or Cher so-and-so who used to do this particular vicar whatever you know he would do miracles and they would tell you all kinds of stories about the miracles that he could do miracle that even a sooner lost Eliza love didn't do but perhaps the worst thing that this group tells is that if you want to reach allah you want to connect with allah you who are dirty with sin cannot you have too many sins and Allah is pure and good so you with all your sins it's like a dirty element trying to attach itself to what is pure and good no no can't happen the only way is for you to find an intermediary someone who is closer to Allah who can then carry your prayers to Allah for you that is the greatest evil and that represents the victory of Shaitaan once he has people accepting that and believing it he has succeeded he has succeeded in dragging them into sugar using nice terminologies very beautiful words explanations but he has now got them to engage in shirk directly in the name of worshipping Allah that is the worst extreme that can happen it's like many of us today when we gather for food and it's Malaysian tradition to eat with your hand Islamic tradition prophet assalam did it and so when the time comes for you to to drink something instead of taking that glass in your right hand because your right hand has now become greasy with your biryani or whatever right you know your satay whatever so you now instead pick it up with your left hand and you place your right hand under it some people just point a finger on it that's the connection there and they drink but what has happened Satan's victory he got you to do exactly what was soon lost Allah assalam said don't do nothing ambiguous terms so you could think well maybe it meant this so maybe he meant that what's also know straight clear open terms you said do not eat and drink with your left hand do not and there you are picking up that glass with your left hand and putting your right hand underneath as if what does this do what does this right hand do so you're drinking with your left while believing in your mind you're drinking with your right that's what's happened to us ignorance Satan whispers what sounds nice sounds reasonable who wants the dirty of their glass but it's gonna get washed anyway is it so anybody's gonna take your glass and drink from it so you're worried that your greasy hand is gonna grease you up the glass so when they try to take it it becomes greasy know that you want drinking from you're the only one using it so what does it matter but Satan has rationalized and put this thought and spread this thought so everybody around you is doing it I remember in dubayy one time at the Islamic Center I was you know explaining to people you know don't do this practice one of the brothers was there with us he said it's so not I said what Sinai's that where were its in hadith say what book of hadees tell me I'd like to know this book of Hadees know the mawlana he said it's it's become Sunnah to drink with your left hand so in the same way Satan comes beautifying for us what the prophets were seldom what the last part Allah has forbidden intercession of course isn't a whole lot nother order we can laugh about the glass and I could say probably drinking with your left hand is not gonna put you in hell probably you didn't know better this is what everybody else did so you did it but praying to other than Allah that is a guaranteed ticket to hell so that's no joke very very serious then if we look at other things which were faced with that may be divided into extreme views we have what may be called instead of moderate Islam it's called modern Islam you know liberal Islam we have some people who promote this idea modern liberal the other one is outdated conservative extreme that is another extreme where people in general what is the the general principle in liberal or mother modern Islam the general principle is what that the human mind is capable of determining for itself what's good and what's evil meaning that in spite of what Allah has told us and his messenger so live assalam you can still go and pick and choose the Prophet SAW salem said no don't do it you can still go and choose to do it because you have your own intelligence and how do you justify it oh well that's hadith is DYFS you heard about how life had his Hadees life so you say that Hadees life must be fabricated son let me said if a fly falls into your drink dunk him in throw him out and drink because under one wing is disease and under the other wing is the cure so we save up modern science never heard of any cure in the fly for disease it's just a fly's carry disease so that hadith must be life fabricated or whatever not acceptable because it goes against my reason my reasoning this is modern Islam and so many other things we don't need to cut off the hand of the thief anymore for we're in modern times amputation of hands and heads this is like savage savagery and so on and so forth so all the ho dude the laws which criminal punishment what they call corporal punishment are rejected by modern or liberal Islam because the West has come to the point where they have rejected corporal punishment they don't hang people anymore many countries not all many countries of the West they look at it as extreme to take somebody else's life is not going to bring back the one whose life was taken so therefore let them live the criminal is a product of the society so the society is to blame not really the criminal the criminal needs to be reformed so it gets a nice five-star hotel you know with television he enjoys the expense of the population whatever so moderate or not moderate but modern and liberal Islam it promotes the mind over Revelation this is an extreme view the Islamic view is that revelation must precede the mind it doesn't mean you turn off your mind altogether but you don't use your mind but you start from Revelation it should have been your mind convincing you that this in fact was revelation and since it is in fact revelation it must be right that is our starting point the ultimate truth is with who with Allah so if revelation came to us then we accept it as the truth first and foremost but now when it comes to applying that truth then of course we do have a mind Allah gave us a mind to rationally deduce principles apply were applicable all these different things and that's right the prophet saw Solomon said my you did Allah will be higher on you off a deal whoever Allah wish is good for them he gives them the understanding the deep understanding of the religion not the hidden no hidden but a deep understanding so application of the law we use our minds who is not saying just turn the mind off the law is the law and you just know but we have to start with the law and understand that that is the best way so we don't go to one extreme where we blindly apply the law without using our minds to understand the circumstances when to apply it when not to write the law says a line who belie the eye for the eye that's the law the tooth for the tooth a sin to be sin that's the law that's the Sharia but now how do you apply that Sharia somebody knocks out your eye the law will remove that person's eye if you decide to let them go as another thing let them pay a fine instead etc it's possible but the basic law is they knocked out your eye deliberately not accidentally deliberately you have the right for their eye to be also removed that's in the Mosaic law so it's not something new unique to the final message of Islam that's what's understood they broke your arm their arm will be broken of course in modern times what is this what kind of law is this you know you're gonna break somebody else's arm which was okay and you because they broke your elbows and their view no no no no no it's not good put them in jail instead you know then somebody else comes along and he says this also means that if they raped your mothers your sisters and your daughters you can go and rape their mothers sisters and daughters just as they did you can do but this is not the understanding this is not the Islamic understanding it's a misunderstanding so yes we have to use the mind but it's not the mind coming to any conclusion it wishes no we have to look and see what was the methodology of the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu Sunda What did he say what did he do did he promote the idea that whatever the enemy does to you you can do back to them no we didn't remove that but those who have taken another path an extreme path they say that they use that as an excuse to do horrendous things in the name of Islam and they will say it is logical and reasonable logical and reasonable to them but not in accordance with the understanding Muslims have had for the last 1400 years so there is a place for the mind but the mind has to be used in accordance with the understanding of the first generation of Muslims Sahaba and those that follow them and those that follow them the righteous generations of Muslims their understanding their closeness to rasulullah sallallahu wasallam gave them insight practical understanding that we don't necessary they have so modern extreme Islam goes in one direction other forms of extremism in the liberal line which says for example Islam is in your heart Islam is in your heart you don't have to wear it outside like a show to show people but you are a Muslim it's between you and Allah so if that's the case you don't have to wear hijab I know hijab is a show but this lamb is in your heart so you find oftentimes amongst liberal Muslims that those elements which are known in Islam I have been known for the last 1400 years put aside so women may not wear hijab men may wear short pants which exposed their thighs but you promise us Allah forbid oh it's Lamas in my heart that's another extreme yes the scholars of Islam say Islam begins in the heart that's the birthplace of Islam the heart it is expressed on the tongue and it is acted upon by the limbs by the body parts all of that makes Islam not just one if you only act on the outside but it's not in your heart then what you're a hypocrite you're a person pretending to be a Muslim you do the things that Muslims do but you don't believe of course who knows that that's between you and Allah and if it is in your heart but not externally on your limbs as you claim we have to say that your claim is a false claim because were it really in your heart it would have been manifest on your limbs and what you have or what has happened to you is you have been tricked by Satan into confusing faith and knowledge confusing faith and knowledge because what distinguishes faith from knowledge is action you may have the knowledge as Satan had knowledge of God but without the action and added to it arrogance in the disobedience of God then Allah this describes him as a disbeliever so that knowledge yes the person say it's in my heart yeah the knowledge is in your heart but the faith know where the faith there you would live it it would be on your actions there's no way that you could reject what a lot is messenger has commanded you no way among the things that were faced with extreme views is also the math have you come into Islam you awaken to Islam and what is presented before you is Shia Islam here if it happened in Pakistan it would be Hanafi Islam if it happened in Sudan it would be Maliki Islam if it was in Saudi Arabia it would be humbly Islam this is what you are presented with and those who promote this idea who say you must follow a math hub you must follow one of these four otherwise your Imam is Shaitaan so they return in fact they even make up statements saying that among the questions you will be asked in the grave after who is your Lord what was your religion was your prophet what was your mother hub I've read it it's gone to that extreme reality of course is that is an extreme view it wasn't revealed although when you go into those who are fanatical they have hadiths which they claim Rasul Assad Salim said that they would arise among stoma you know such as such a person who had these qualities and so his that's abu hanifa of course those are the ones you read in Pakistan then if you go to Egypt it will be that's Imam Shafi they're talking about that hadith so on and so forth people actually fabricated hadith to defend this and of course because it was an extreme it was an extreme which came about really after the 13th century it really became deep-rooted when you look at the consequences beside the fabrication of Hadees and you consider that from the 13th 14th century in the Hanafi school the scholars ruled that it was not permissible for a Hanafy to marry a Shafi they can marry a Christian or a Jew but not a chef I this is extreme this is extreme and of course around the Kaaba for hundreds of years until 1925 hundreds of years fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty eighth century Muslims were praying around the Kaaba for different prayers hanafis prayed separately shall face prayed separately humbly spread separately Maliki's prayed separately you see all the old pictures of the Kaaba you'll see these structures around the Kaaba called maqam Hanafy Micajah PHA maqam humbly maqam Maliki until 1925 when the quote/unquote were hobbies came and they broke down all of these structures and the Muslim world screamed look at these madmen look what they're doing they broke him down and they say everybody have to pray behind one imam and that's all they did that's enough to say the Wahhabi movement brought great good back to the oppa if that's all so this was an extreme the question is the big question when considering this whole issue of math hub is what was the math hub of Abu Bakr he certainly wasn't any of the four what about Omar and rest man and Ali so their Imam was shapen I was a builder so then what actually when you go and you study the math hubs you will come to realize very quickly that Abu Hanifah wasn't a Hanafi and Imam Schaffer it wasn't a Shafi nor was he my malika Maliki or Ahmed him be humble humbly these math hubs evolved they came into being way after that time 100 years 200 years after the time they formulated themselves and they continued to evolve to practices that those great Imams those great scholars never thought but now it's called Hanafy mother when we bring things down to the customs and traditions of Muslims today then we know things go even crazier besides the idea here in Malaysia that to become a Muslim is to become a Malay you know I mean and that is a sign of a the extremeness extremities and when you go into various other cultures it's the same thing it's not just unique here you'll find in other cultures people hold the same thing I remember in Trinidad where the Muslims there were mostly from India so when the people who were of arid African origin if they converted to Islam it meant they became an Indian no it's just another version of the same thing where Islam is now so coated in custom and tradition it has gone to an extreme we don't understand Islam anymore we just understand customs and traditions and these show up in a variety of different ways whether it is in marriage customs where you have the bride and the groom sitting up on a throne and people performing the rites of temple tower which has nothing to do with Islam at all hand it down from Hindu tradition still doing it the person who newly comes to Islam than watching this thing what is this what does that have to do with Islam or it is the common practice today to spend huge amounts of money on the marriage itself so huge so big that people are discouraged can't afford it and parents when young people want to get married parents Atilla no no no no no you can't you have to work you have to finish your education and get this and that and you know you earn all this and of course what does that do it promotes corruption in the society because the time when young people are driven by hormones the most these are the times you saying don't get married don't get married now wait until that other time so what's going to happen in between this time and that other time those desires don't just disappear people don't fast that's what the Prophet SAW Salim said if you can't get married fast so they're not fasting so what happens corruption corruption one form or another becomes widespread in the society so when we consider the moderate Muslim that moderate Muslim is one who marries young today if you want to marry young let's say your extreme your extreme but in fact that is the true moderate Muslim because the Prophet SAW Salim said yeah mashallah Shaba - turtle Makhmalbaf and it is our young people whoever among you is able to get married get married and I'm sure some of you here would say odd but probably you have kids you not gonna do that you're gonna do the same thing we do know I have a son sixteen year old he got married his wife was 18 from India I have another son he's 17 year old this summer he's gonna get married each other so I'm not just saying that and not doing it so this is the point we can we don't have to go along with what everybody else has been doing what the society is now taken as a norm and we be a part of that because in that way we are becoming a part of the problem we're not solving anything we're not making the society any better we're making it worse that's the reality so it is essential for us to find that moderate Muslim again to bring moderation back into our lives from all aspects from the way we perceive Allah and worship Him to the way we practice our Islam day today the fifth that governs our lives to our social dealings how we deal with each other etc we have to find that moderate point and we have to keep Islam open and transparent accessible to everybody alhamdulillah I set up in 2007 the Islamic online University in order to make Islam as accessible to Muslims as possible and to non-muslims if they want now there is no excuse you want to know about Islam you want to know what is required in all these different areas we spoke about you can go online for free we have a free diploma course which is in which is registered more than a hundred and ninety six thousand students from around the world studying for free absolutely free we need to have that knowledge in order to regain and to bring back into focus the moderation of Islam to find that middle path because if we remain ignorant then we remain easy targets for Isis Boko Haram Abu Sayyaf Qaeda whatever allah come how do we protect who how do we protect ourselves from these types of things movements and groups and extremes by having proper knowledge of Islam this is the route this is the ultimately the only route and know with certainty that we will never establish Islam by creating a small group of guerillas who arm ourselves and then go and try to grab power grab the leaders of the country execute them and say Sharia now know though it might sound adventurous make a nice movie that's not how it's going to happen it didn't happen that way in the time of prophet muhammad sallallaahu Sela and he could have done it he could have gotten hamza omar bin al-khattab other leading warriors amongst the Sahaba he could have gathered them and caught the leaders of Quraish in one of their meetings and just slaughtered them took over Sharia Mecca but he didn't that wasn't his way from an relative and sanity Felisa meanie and whoever chooses a way other than that of Rasul Allah Salih Saleh they're not true Muslims they've gone to extremes they've left the path they have lost their way well not say they're not Muslims but they have lost their way that way when tried in different circumstances we see a time and time again failing so inshallah I hope this point of what is the moderate Muslim is clear the moderate Muslim is one who first and foremost knows Islam if you don't know Islam you're in danger of extremism it doesn't mean automatically you're an extremist but you're in danger of extremism in one way or another in one form or another then with that knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah you apply it you practice it you judge in accordance with it you live your life on the basis of it that is the moderate Muslim the true moderate Muslim who according to the rest of the world that globalised civilization is an extremist because you grow your beard you wear hijab you don't shake the hands of women you don't drink a little bit of alcohol even a little bit and so I you pray five times a day these are all considered to be extreme practices but from the Quran and Sunnah this is Islam and to protect that Islam it is very important for us to understand the underlying message of Islam not the hidden message when I talk about hidden again right no secrets but the underlying message of Islam that Islam is to modify human behavior to bring the human being closer to God so they would live a life in accordance with what God has prescribed a life which is exemplified by the moral codes by which they live they live in a morally sound way they are distinguishing between good and evil all the time and choosing the good as much of the time as they can but that the message of Islam fundamentally is a moral message that we are morally correct in our relationship to Allah it's morally correct to worship Him alone it's morally incorrect to worship Him along with others or others instead of him or through others all of that is morally wrong as it is morally wrong for us to cheat oppress exploit our fellow human beings is morally wrong that's morally right to be generous to be kind to be honest all these different things in our dealings with other human beings and it's morally wrong for us to destroy the environment which Allah has provided for us to be conscious of that environment look after it we didn't need the environmentalist to come along to tell us this this was already in Islam from 1400 years ago so this is the life of the Muslim that moderate Muslim who is morally sound in all of his dealings or her dealings with Allah society and the world in which we live may Allah bring that reality to life in our lives and let us be among those who make a difference who are about changing the status quo to make it better rather than just going along with whatever is there accepting whatever is custom and tradition may Allah make us amongst those who bring a brighter future to Islam here in Malaysia Shama I mean Islamic online University changing the nation through education register now and get started visit wwii you edu GM for more details you

Channel: Bilal Philips

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Keywords: Khutbah, english sermon, islamic lecture, muslim scholar, Dr. Abu Ameena Bilal Philips, shaykh, The Moderate Muslim, islamic online university, moderation

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Length: 66min 54sec (4014 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 17 2019