The Purpose of Life - Dr. Bilal Philips

hamdulillah or salatu was-salam Allah Allah all praise is due to Allah and we lost peace and blessings be on the last Messenger of Allah the purpose of life represents a question which all human beings ask themselves at some point or points in their lives why am I here what is my purpose what is this life really about for the majority of human beings in the world that question is understood as why did God create me for most human beings they believe in God and so the question of purpose goes back to God for what purpose did God create me for a minority of human beings a very small minority they look at this whole question as a pointless question because our existence in their estimation is the product of a cosmic accident so the whole concept of God for them is the result of a global delusion human beings all around the world I deluded by this idea that there is a God it is of our own making so to them belief in God is irrational it's illogical and it's based on blind faith however the reality is that it is just the opposite the belief in God is rational it's logical and it's not based on blind faith for some people yes it may be but that belief is in fact in agreement with human intellectual reasoning and it is the opposite the denial of God's existence which is irrational illogical and based on blind faith because the founders of logic or we could say the first civilization that was known to codify logical arguments was the Greek civilization they laid out principles of reasoning if a equals B and B equals C then a must equal C they human beings of course have been using this anyway naturally but the Greeks went and codified it you know wrote it down wrote down all the principles well the leading thinkers the leading minds of Greece Plato and Aristotle they argued using the same logical principles why there must be a God so if it was so irrational and so illogical what happened the reality is that Plato argued that there must be a God because design indicates a designer where things are formed in a particular pattern cetera this indicates that this was something deliberate it is not accidental yes sometimes accidents do produce what looks like a form if you take a bucket of paint and you throw it on the wall it splatters on the wall it might look like a hand because that sort of looks like a hand well that looks like a head that looks like Mohammed something like that vaguely but now if you were to take the primary colors red blue yellow pour it into a bucket with a little bit of white a little bit of black and then throw it on the wall and come up with a Mona Lisa what do you think about the chances that one happening well according to these logical rational atheists it's possible if you do it enough times you have enough paint and enough walls yeah one of the times you could come up with the Mona Lisa we say this is illogical this is unreasonable common sense tells us no way not possible or the other way of looking at things since science now agrees that we came from the Big Bang everything happened right this huge cosmic accident of the earth with human beings living on it plants animals everything was a result of the Big Bang okay Big Bang what if we dropped atomic bombs in a junkyard you know they've got a junkyard with all bits and pieces of cars there and you dropped atomic bombs in there what are the chances of an atomic bomb dropping in that junkyard exploding and out rolls a rolls-royce engine purring the door opened for you to just step in and drive away what's the chances of that one happening for the atheist it's possible anything's possible if you give enough time you make enough attempts anything can happen see are you serious are you rational this is their argument so as a result of that the vast majority of human beings have always believed in God because that fringe group which denies God's existence is based on irrationality reason and intelligence points to the existence of God but they deny what is obvious before them trying to ascribe to accident that which could never happen as an accident Aristotle on the other hand his argument could be summed up in the domino theory if you lined up dominoes and I'm sure you've seen programs on TV whatever where they push the Domino's and they go around and they knock things over and they form patterns and you know huge late you know hold places like just laid out with one Domino pushed at one end and it does this all this beautiful work till it comes to the end so I was startled was saying basically that if we didn't have somebody to push the first domino nothing would have happened all that you saw all this one knocking the other one knocking the other one would never take place if all you had were dominoes nothing would take place now if you understand one Domino knocking over another Domino as being the cause for the falling of that domino the first domino at the end depends on the domino before it to fall and the one before it to fall and so on and so on and so forth so if you say as atheists will say the world has no beginning matter is eternal there is no beginning to that process then how are we here how did we get here because if you don't have a beginning point where in that beginning action is not from the dominoes then there's no reason for us to be here there has to be someone some force some being that causes the first domino to fall who cannot be a domino because if he was a domino then he would need somebody else another domino who would need another domino would need another domino and if we never find someone who wasn't a domino then the whole process would never begin that's how I was not like it you cannot go back infinitely in time there must be a beginning point our existence here and now is proof that there was a beginning so these great minds from Greek culture as we said argued for the existence of God and what they argued was 'watch human beings throughout the world have agreed on it's not a mass delusion it is a delusion on the part of a small number of people who claim there is no God in fact in 1997 neuro scientists at the University of California San Diego they found dedicated neural machinery in the temporal load lobes of the brain that is in the frontal lobes which were when stimulated causing mystical spiritual experiences in the part of epileptics and when they analyzed people who were highly religious very much into their religious faith etc they found the similar areas stimulated so they concluded from that that the human brain was hot-wired for belief in God and these were non-muslims non Christians they were just plain scientists analyzing data so we can move on when looking for purpose to life to the creator of this life did he have a purpose for human beings creating human beings or not if we had a purpose did he reveal that purpose to human beings we have a body of human beings who have accepted there's there has to be a god a lot of people who were belonging to religions at one point in time but after seeing some of the behavior or irrational practices of some of the religions they left these religions but they still retained the belief in God but they concluded religion must be man-made God created the world and left it to run on its own these are called theists most Christians today fall into this category they used to go to church but when they didn't find answers in the church they still believed in God because it made sense but the church didn't make sense so they ended up in this category the question is if God is the supreme being and with that being also the supreme intelligence in this world we recognize in human behavior behave you man behavior that purposeful action is a natural product of human intelligence when we see people doing things without purpose you ask them somebody builds a machine very fancy looking thing with pulleys and wheels turning and smoke coming out of one end and everything you ask him you know what's the purpose of this machine says no has no purpose we look at them as a blur so what happened why did you do it just like that we're gonna think there's something wrong with this person it doesn't make sense you're gonna go to all that effort to produce something which doesn't do anything it has no purpose behind it no this is people usually people like this we call 911 you know come take this guy away he comes knocking on your door and you ask him I who do you want to see I don't know why are you standing on my door not sure how did you get here I don't know nine-one-one please person without purposeful actions we say he's lost it he's mad he's insane we put him away in hospitals so if we recognize that for human beings this is unacceptable behavior then to attribute to God that he would create this world and just leave it to run on its own no purpose behind it etc that is to attribute to the Creator ignorance foolishness nonsense that doesn't make sense now if one says ok there is a purpose but he didn't tell us well come on he didn't tell us then that's like a formula for disaster and chaos would we ever find our way if God didn't tell us of course not if you send your kids to school and you didn't tell them what they're supposed to do at school what do you think is gonna happen they're all gonna just march into classroom sit down wait for the teacher to come no way they'll go straight to the playground get on the swings the slides have a good time until somebody says hey you're supposed to be in the classroom somebody has to tell them what they're supposed to be doing there so this otherwise is chaos businesses don't work like that you set up a company you hire people to come work for your company but you don't tell them what they're supposed to do how successful is your company gonna be so we understand that they need to tell what the purpose is is real and therefore any intelligent being who sets up a system must inform the members of that system what their purpose is now that purpose revealed by God came in the form of what we know today as religion the purpose of life was explained there and what human beings were supposed to be doing in this life was explain explain however it became confused in time it became confused so people looking around trying to figure out purpose they kept running into different explanations and arguments whether they look at Hinduism or Buddhism or Christianity etc they had difficulty finding what really is the purpose you know if you ask Christians you know what is the purpose of life most was there I'm not sure I think it has something to do with Jesus you ask most Jews what's the purpose of life is in not sure I think it has something to do with Moses and so on and so forth you know you ask around you don't find clear answers can you show me in your scriptures some people say well it's because of this was because of that you know philosophers etc but then you say show me in your scriptures where it says this well that's just what I think individual opinions but where purpose is a product of individual opinions we have these individual opinions clashing with each other how does human society find direction there needs to be clarity what we find when we look in the Quran the final book of Revelation according to Muslim belief we find in there clear statements in the fifty first chapter verse 56 we see God stating Omaha local general Inza in the earlier one I only created the jinns were spirit world and humankind for my worship to worship me the purpose is clearly defined that of worship not worship because God needs human worship but worship because human beings need to worship God however when we speak about worship people in general tend to think of worship as something you do in the temple or the mosque or the church or the synagogue whatever at specific times in the week or in the year whereas the true concept of worship is living one's life in accordance with the commandments of God so worship includes everything that a person does from the time he wakes up or she wakes up in the morning till the time they go to sleep at night the specific acts of worship which are prescribed by God that is they are to help human beings be conscious of God throughout their daily lives so worship in Islam fundamentally involves consciousness of it's a a goal the goal of worship is to heighten and to develop human beings consciousness of God in his or her life in order that they would live righteous wholesome and good lives so from the Islamic perspective this message was given to Adam it's not something new which Prophet Muhammad may God's peace and blessings be upon him and upon all of the prophets that he brought it's not something new it is a revision or a reviving of the original message a message which was brought by Jesus but which got garbled after his time message which was brought by Moses but which was also garbled after his time and so on and so forth all the way back to Adam the first human being and the first prophet of God and prophets were sent according to the Quran to all nations and tribes it's not just this the tremendo mentioned in the Quran but beyond them to all nations and tribes because the need for that knowledge is everywhere so the religion which helps human beings fulfill their purpose is naturally one religion as human beings are one human race all of these divisions that people have made up ethnical Caucasian negroid this is all nonsense we are one human race we may be in different colors different heights shapes etc cats you find little little cats you find big cats furry cats shorthair cats but they're all cats so similarly human beings are one in this world which is one world with one God and the way of life which God wants from human beings is also one he didn't give one set of human beings one religion and give another set another religion which says do this the Lord says do that and one here and there no this is human corruption that purpose of worshipping God of living lives were in one is conscious of God it's needed by all human beings everywhere not just by a particular group he favored over other groups gave it to someone didn't give it to others no it's given to all of humankind of course in fulfilling that purpose of worship the most essential principle is that God the Creator is the only one who deserves to be worshipped because he is the only creator so worship should be directed to him alone consequently the greatest possible sin that a human being can commit is to worship others besides God or along with God thinking they are God whether they're people or animals or whatever statues stones trees planets the greatest sin that a human being can commit it's the one sin which God will not forgive if a person dies having not repented from it this is as stated in the Quran furthermore this life with regards to our purpose the life that human beings are created in is a life of tests this is something we all experience we're all challenged at different points in our day or week a year throughout our lives were challenged and these tests and challenges are ultimately for our own spiritual growth and development it's not because God likes to make things difficult for us to create difficulties and problems in our lives and such we know it is there for our spiritual development because our development is dependent on choices this is what makes us unique out of all of God's creatures we have choices we can choose to do this or we can choose to do that and in this choice we choose between right and wrong what we believe to be right and wrong in the animal kingdom they don't make these kind of choices when a lion sees a deer he jumps on the deer and eats it devours it the fact that the deer might have little baby deers that it's looking after he's not gonna stop and think huh should I be merciful it's hungry it's human beings they stop and think oh that deers got young ones if I kill the bigger one the young ones may not have somebody to take care of them etc so we make choices like that the animal kingdom doesn't so this life involves these series of choices and in everything that we have in the life there are tests for us to do the right thing test so that when we do the right thing instead of the wrong thing we grow this is how we grow spiritually whenever we make the right choice over the wrong choice so for example the Creator has made us on different levels economically some have more than others it is a test for both those who have more as well as those who have less those who have more are challenged should I share what I have with those who have less who don't have or should I just go for myself I make an excuse well the reason why I have is because I worked hard and they didn't it's their fault if I give them it'll only make them lazy we find all these excuses why not to give why not to share that's the failure when we reflect on God and we realize and accept that we have more because God gave us more as not simply because we work so hard because if the richest people in the world were the richest because they worked so hard then what about the people who actually really work hard who from the time they wake up in the morning they're out in the fields plowing the fields all day till the night they just you know finally go to sleep that's their day working really hard what happened to them they're not the richest if they were working so hard well the other person will say well you know I'm working hard mentally it's mental hard work that counts again there are the people for working much harder than you mentally and they don't have what you have you happen to be born in that family you happen to go to that school you happen to find that job all of this it's not by your choice you can say oh it's by my good luck but there's no such thing as good luck this is the destiny of God what you have is because God gave it to you so that you would share it with others and grow spiritually because truly in all of our societies no matter where we are the person who is generous it's always respected we have to say that's a good person we see that that is a higher state to be benevolent to share with others well it's for everybody it's not just for them we all have each and every one of us has more than somebody else so we all need to look into our own lives and see where we can help others we can share with others because it's God who has put us on these different levels and he put us there for a reason there is a purpose behind it if we wake up and recognize it then we benefit and we grow if we don't then we lose that opportunity and we sink in this world because of course the life today is focused on material existence those who look at life as being this big accident well it's you know it's just about enjoyment that's why you find some people when they get real sick they want to commit suicide you know they're people who have petitioned the government to give me the right to commit suicide why because life is not happy anymore it's not pleasurable anymore so life is supposed to be a happy life so unless it's happy it's no good that's because we're looking at things from a purely material perspective and when we look at things in that way you know where we end up we end up in all of the corruption that's out there the corruption whether it is from drugs whether it is from pornography pedophilia all of these channels are channels for enjoyment and pleasure but these are destructive whenever we've made this world our goal that our purpose here is just to accumulate as much of it as we can then the product of it is corruption and that's why we see some of the people who are supposed to be the happiest people in this world they have all that we seek they have the wealth they have the places they have the cars they are doing yachts their life seems to be so perfect yet we find them killing themselves committing suicide you know committing mayhem their families are dysfunctional say why why because when we make our purpose here focused on that material side of life we have no way to go we cannot grow we have lost really what we are supposed to be here for so we have to look at these tests in life as a means for our own spiritual growth for those people who didn't have what the others have we are also being tested should we ban together and take away the wealth from the wealthy communism right the workers we're in the workforce those bourgeoisie who are living that comfortable life they don't deserve it because they didn't work like we did so therefore we need to take over society and share this wealth equally so how many atrocities are committed in the name of communism how many people did Stalin wipe out millions mouths Satan wiped out Cultural Revolution so what is required of those who have less is that they be patient they be patient this is God's destiny in their lives if their patients with less accept it having tried to get more is no harm in trying to get some more but not that you become crazy with trying to get that more so you end up stealing cheating and all the other negative things that come with it know your patients after you've made legitimate efforts but this is what is best for you your patience with it then you have grown because we grow in generosity and we grow in patience and societies in general again they respect those people who are patient they have control over themselves and that's why the Prophet may God's peace and blessing be upon him Muhammad had said don't look at those who have more than you those above you instead look to those below you because it is better to remind you of God's favor in your own life because there's always somebody below you're always better off than somebody else yes theoretically there is somebody who is at the very bottom who there's nobody worse off than him but where is he oh where is she all of us can look at somebody else and say they're worse off than us that's how life is so we try to use these circumstances to grow it and we find in our lives besides the tests of how products or commodities or possessions of this life of in distributed we also find in our lives calamities calamities which strike from time to time for those people who don't worship God normally this is the time when they start worshipping God sincerely this is why in Islam worship is something one does throughout one's life five times a day some people look at it and say oh that's a lot five times I'm busy life is busy it's time to go pray five times in one day once a week is not enough or should you pray when you really feel into it you know and your heart feels like God rather than praying it in this regimented way morning midday afternoon sunset Mike but the point is that if it's left up to us and I hope to how we feel we may not feel God today so we don't break this week this month this year years will go by we don't have that feeling so we never break but when do we pray when the calamity strikes then here oh god oh god what is the value of that prayer when one turns to God in the time of calamity a very little value if one has not been turning to God on a regular basis continually then it has lost its meaning even the person who says there's no God at all like those people for example were on top of the World Trade Center when the plane hit and the first tower starts to go down there are people there there's no God but guess what when that happened you think they just said tough luck oh they were screaming oh god oh god oh god louder than the people who even believe in God because this is no way out what enough to do maybe try that maybe there is so the point is that when these calamities strike one needs to be patient that patience which one learns and and develops because of the differences that God has created in our general lives that helps us through the trials at the time when they come that's why the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him had said that the affair of the true believer is amazing whenever good comes to him or her in life they are thankful they're grateful to God and they are rewarded for what was given to them and whenever bad times come what they perceive as bad times they're patient with it and God rewards them for that also so it's a win-win situation whether calamity whether success they are on an even keel they're able to handle the variations in human life also calamities serve as a reminder you know sometimes many of us we say we believe in God but we get distracted with daily life things this just has this so busy we don't even have time to give to God so to speak when the calamity strikes it's also wake up hey I need to get back on track if we take it that way then we have benefited and we have grown we've gotten back on track if we don't understand it that way then the calamity for us then becomes punishments we suffer we might scream cry etc but it's punishment so when trials come in our lives we determine ultimately what it is for us is it a benefit by which we grow closer to God or is this a punishment for having strayed away from God or is it a reminder to get back on track and repair our links with God also calamities expose those people who claim to believe in God but when the trial comes we see their real face when the trial comes and the person asks why me why did this happen to me and this is one of the big reasons why people end up going into atheism where calamity strikes they have no explanation as to why so they say they can be a god a lot of times when I talk with people where if he is that's what they usually come back to you know I had aunt Mary she was a wonderful woman used to do so much good and help everybody and everything and then one day she's walking across the street and a big lorry came and hit her back why why her there's so many evil people out there why's that getting the evil people so don't have an explanation as to why her there can't be a god where's the fairness in all of this so for them the presence of evil in the world is proof that there is no God you will hear this often where did the evil come from if there is a God who is all powerful and he's a merciful God a good God not an evil God then where did all this evil come from that is the question there is of course reality is that everything that happens ultimately in the world is by the permission of God no doubt and what God has permitted no matter how evil you might see it there is a good aspect to it that we can't see sometimes we see it later on sometimes we see it a long time on sometimes we see it shortly afterwards how many times has something happened to us and we said ah terrible why did that happen a couple of days later something else happens because of that we say ah that was a good thing two days before I thought it was horrible today it was a good thing we all experienced that and these are the signs but even though something may be there which takes place which we think is not good we can't see any good in it the fact that we can't see good in it doesn't mean there is no good all it means is that we can't see the good we don't have the knowledge to be able to see the good but what happens is that people conclude since I can't see good there can't be any good so usually after some discussion like this somebody would say what about the tsunami where is the good in the tsunami okay so I can't tell you where the good is in the tsunami but does it mean there's no good simply because I can't tell you we have enough things in this world wherein we accept some bad for greater good to let us know that simply because we can't see the greater good doesn't mean there is Jenny for example when we take our child for the first time to the dentist they have to get a filling and the child you know we prepare them for the dentist the dentist is a nice guy it's got this long white coat you know it's gonna give me some candies nice guy so the kid comes in happy nice guy can be until the drill hits their tooth and they're screaming as far as they're concerned this guy is a bad guy next time you have to take him to the dentist you're gonna have to fight to get him out that door you can't convince him that what is happening in the dentist chair is a good thing he can't see the good in it all he knows is the needle that went into his gum and the drill that went into his tooth that's all he can see but because he couldn't see the good in it it doesn't mean there was no good so this is the nature of our lives ultimately God is good and he has created us for good and our purpose here is to worship Him throughout our lives in order that that good would be manifest in our lives through his mercy through his love through his grace his forgiveness all of these characteristics are manifest in our lives when we are conscious of God and we act in accordance with the way that he has prescribed for us and this world in which we live the world has been put there for our benefit for our use as the Prophet may God's peace and mercy be upon him and said the world is beautiful and green and Allah has made you governors over it to see how you will we have a responsibility to the world to the environment etc to look after it we are governors we use it to take benefit from it those people who say well the animals we shouldn't heat them you know let's just eat vegetable things let's all be you know vegetarians why eat those animals well God gave him to us he gave us teeth which are for eating meat type things where we only to eat vegetable matter then we would have just had molars in our mouths just to grind it up but he gave us sharp teeth in the front for purpose that's to eat meat so after you're saying well God gave us something which is of no benefit to us really not good for us which is not logical or reasonable you know or you have some kind of hidden agenda and of course those who are against the eating of animals originally it comes really from the belief of some people in what is known as reincarnation there is a belief system which teaches that you know depending on how you are in this life you move up the ladder of living existence if you are bad you go down the ladder so if you're not a good person in this life maybe next time you wake up you'll be that chicken the same one you wanted to cut his head off that was you so when you have that level of belief then you want to save all the chickens right so that's the hidden agenda behind system of belief but reality is that God has made us and given us these creatures to utilize not to abuse you know not to go out and hunt for sport so we can cut their heads off and stick them on the walls and things like this no we take the life of animals with purpose not sport because we need to eat we need to clothe ourselves make shoes whatever we take their lives that is the way that God would have us do it and even the animals have rights with regards to looking after them the vegetable matter that we live in the animals themselves are to be taken care of and when Muslims slaughter animals it is not a celebration of bloodletting some people think because Muslims cut the necks of the animals that they just love to see blood flow you know these Muslims are bloodthirsty individuals right I remember some years back in New York there was this front page news where some people had they had a neighbor was almost them and used to go to the marketplace and buy chicken bring it home and then cut the neck of the chicken in the kitchen and cook it up and eat it and the people his neighbors you know they would see him every day come and do this they wanted to stop him you know so they call the SPCA society will prevent Cruelty to Animals and the Friday when he came home with his chicken and he's inside the door bursts in they come rushing in and grab the chicken away from him for the graphs of his in front page they saved the chicken of this Muslim terrorist of course this manner of killing the animal is one when you actually analyze it look at it properly it is one which takes the life of that animal in a very natural and easy way the blood vessels jugular veins of the animal contents while it's still alive and the blood flows out and with the flowing of the blood it gets weaker weaker and dies a general process we look at what is the alternative in the West they put these animals on conveyor belts then they dip their feet in water and they electrify the waters all the animal dies they're unconscious and then they chop their heads off as a synthesis we cut their head off while they were unconscious but you just zap them with electricity before that you know that's not a nice thing we've all been shocked at some time you know what that feels like or for the bigger animals they have the deadbolt guns which has a piston in it it hits the animal and the side the head knocks it unconscious then they string it up when they cut the necklace al it's unconscious when you cut the neck you guys who fight the animal down and you're cutting is a neck but the point is that getting that blow on the side of your head is like somebody taking a cricket bat and whacking you on side of your head is that the pleasant experience definitely not you have put a huge amount of pain on that animal and after he's gone unconscious because of the pain you cut his neck you said you're doing it in a nice way no it's not a nice way the nice way is the way that Muslims do it they cut the neck while the animal is alive and in this way they are treating the animal in a humane way so there is guidance in all walks of life found in Islam Islam where the purpose of human existence is clearly defined we are here in this world to worship God not because he needs our worship but because we need to worship Him so that the potential character moral spiritual emotional character of the human being is realized the higher qualities that we have are brought out and this comes ultimately with the remembrance of God and that is why throughout the Quran when you read about the different practices that Muslims are required to do it always goes back to consciousness of God this month of fasting which is around the corner is all about being conscious of God conscious of God so that our actions would change that we would become better people but in order to achieve that it must be done in the way which was prescribed and when I say that I say that as advice to Muslims in the audience Ramadan will begin day after tomorrow actually tomorrow night we begin probably tell are we the night prayers and we begin that month of fasting that for us to realize our purpose in terms of closeness to God in this month we must take on fasting the way that it was prescribed not the way that it has become traditionally for us where fasting is shifted now into feasting fasting feasting they both begin with F but there are two different species right fasting is fasting feasting is something else so we need to go back to the way of the Prophet where we begin our fast by a very light meal so who are is not a three-course meal because that three-course meal only fills us up then we spend the rest of the day digesting the food till just before sunset digestion is complete now it's time to break the fast this is something else yes the letter of the law has been fulfilled we didn't eat between dawn and sunset but we really didn't fast we really didn't fast so I do advise brothers and sisters here to stop for a minute and try to make this Ramadan a different Ramadan one in which we are fasting truly one in which we feel hunger because we are fasting for properly when one feels hunger because you're fasting having chosen to fast then we can better appreciate those people like in Somalia now who are starving to death or dying not because they chose to fast but because they have no food to eat but that fast with motivate us to want to share what we have with them different from us watching on television these people you know in this destitute situation as we take a nice bite out of a chicken leg and you know while feasting the impact is different so let us try this Ramadan to really fast so that at the end of the month we can feel a difference we come out of Ramadan feeling that this was what I was supposed to be doing which I haven't been doing for so many years because I didn't know any better everybody else around me was feasting and I just joined in the feast so concluding with our sense of purpose the sense of purpose has to pervade every aspect of our lives whether it is in the workplace with our neighbors with our families with ourselves between ourself of God we should have a sense of purpose know why we are here know what our responsibility is to those around us for Muslims we have a responsibility not only to fulfill the commandments of God in our lives and this is the requirement on all those who receive the messages from God through the prophets of God down through the ages but also to share that message with those around us we live in a plural society where there may be many non-muslims with whom we work who are our neighbors etc we do have a responsibility to share that message with them not to push it down their throats not to convert them but to share the message with them to let them know what it really is because there's so much in the media which has distorted the image of Islam as we saw in the beginning before the lecture how people in different parts of the world considered Islam to be a terrorist religion terrorism an Islam of become synonymous so much so that the recent bombing there in Norway the first thing that came out in the news was Muslim terrorists then everybody hoops it was a fundamental Christian but even when it became a fundamental Christian everybody knew it he was never called and is never called a Christian terrorist isn't that funny whenever a Muslim does it it's a Muslim terrorist but the Muslim who was committed a terroristic act but he is a Muslim terrorist but none of the newspapers will refer to that individual as a Christian terrorist this is deliberate so we have to change that understanding through our own implementation of Islam in our lives knowing Islam ourselves being able to distinguish between our traditions our customs oftentimes which have nothing to do with Islam at all but just that is the custom of the people of this area etc and people from the outside they can't distinguish between what is Islam and what is custom they see us who are supposed to be Muslims doing these things they assume that's Islam so we need to clean up shop clean up our homes put these customs and traditions aside which presents a negative image about Islam to the world so that the truth can become clear and available to people people can realize their purpose that of worshipping God and find their way through the teachings of Islam to live lives which are in accordance with the commandments of God as taught by Adam who was the first human being first prophet of God first Muslim because a Muslim is one who submits his will or her will to God not a follower of Muhammad specifically but any follower true follower of any of the prophets of God they're all Muslims and that's what brings the whole of humankind together so with that I will conclude the presentation reminding you that we do need whether Muslim or non-muslim we do need to stop for a minute from our busy schedule busy lives and think about why we are here and come to some conclusions and then act on those conclusions may God bless you all and I'll give you an opportunity now to ask some questions if you'd like to ask

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Keywords: allah, quran, islam, islamic, muslim, prophet, messenger, muhammad, mohamed, pbuh, saws, qur'an, sunnah, hadith, hijab, nasheed, jihad, sharia, fiqh, madhhab, sufi, salafi, shia, sunni, haram, halal, lecture, speech, speaker, shaykh, imam, god, ummah, ramadhan, hajj, salah, convert, revert, da'wah, debate, dajjal, niqab, akbar, heaven, hell, religion, religious, preacher, adhan, 'the, deen, show', tafseer, recitation, tawheed, swt, surah, spirituality, worship, pray, prayer, fatwa, soul, purification, salaf, shirk, sins, mosque, masjid, sufism, muslims, song, koran

Id: 7OKJ4Wu8VHI

Length: 67min 7sec (4027 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 01 2011