The Way to Real Happiness | Dr. Bilal Philips

some people think they can find happiness through their children because they can't personally achieve certain things they hope that through their children they will achieve these things but again children oftentimes put stress in people's lives you know if you have to raise the kids and the problems that come with raising those kids because they don't do what you feel they should have done so happiness we can't find it there money income money well according to the media money should be what can buy for us happiness the happiest people the person has the yacht they can go off to the West Indies or to seashells and just you know live that nice comfortable luxurious life what happened to that couple that went from the UK right retired couple they got their yachts they're circling around the world Somali pilot that happy happy life that hijacked so even where you think money can do it for you you get hijacked money doesn't necessarily do it dr. abu amina bilal philips his quest search for the truth led him from the his birthplace in jamaica to the streets of Toronto in Canada where he grew up and accepted Islam in 1972 that journey has left him write down many paths and he's obviously now to Islamic scholarship lectureship authorship and i thinka bilal philips abu amina completed his BA from the college of islamic disciplines 'soul dean at the islamic university of medina in 1979 thereafter thereafter he went on to complete his master's in Ikeda in the University of her yard in 1985 he finally obtained his PhD in the University of Wales far cry from Medina Subhan Allah in the UK war in Islamic theology in 1994 he taught Islamic education Arabic in private schools lectured in M students in the Islamic Studies department in various universities is founded Islamic information centres or traveling extensively across the globe in passing Islamic knowledge as dictated by the Islamic tradition apparently he likes he enjoys to play squash and that's what he does to keep fit teaches his children also to do martial arts which be careful because he's a black belt well he's a black belt very accomplished man you know hamdulillah I think what he considers and we'll be talking about that a little bit later on to be something which is he's very happy about is he founded an Islamic online university which has over 20,000 students worldwide and we're going to be talking about that he's offered authored over a hundred Islamic books including the books we see outside the fundamentals of tawheed which is his own favorite apparently he currently relies in Doha and he's in the summer of 2009 established a Preston International College and fudger international schools in Chennai in Chennai in India needless to say I can go on and the list of his achievements to be honest is quite extraordinary for you know one single man in this day and age in this in this age of global international capitalism and tonight he's going to address us and address all of us whether we are Muslim or non-muslim on the way to real happiness the title is now the way to real happiness so brothers and sisters you'd like to please sit down so that we can welcome the Sheikh so please sit down everybody calm down sit down get your places I know there's lots of people in the room okay so everybody sitting down now so now I think we're going to welcome to the stage for the last lecture in this peace conference today of course will be here tomorrow as well the way to real happiness by dr. abu amina bilal philips please come to the stage now hamdullah or salat wa salam o Rasul Allah all praise is due to Allah and ellas peace and blessings be on the last messenger of allah the topic the way to real happiness is one which concerns all people happiness first and foremost is a contented state of mind where a person feels peace inner peace even in a state of difficulty or even in a state of torture a person may be happy to sacrifice himself on the circumstances that would make most people unhappy so it is rarely a state of mind and all people strive for it regardless of their backgrounds regardless of their positions in life what we find is that people try to find that state commonly today through drugs trying to achieve that state of happiness feeling contented feeling pleasurable because they are associating happiness with pleasure but reality is that people who take drugs end up miserable it provides a temporary release or a temporary state of pleasure but that pleasure doesn't last it quickly goes away and to be able to fund it it requires a lot of money it leads people into all kinds of crime and those people have a lot of money what does end up doing eventually overdosing because you can only take so much of it and it's going to overcome you regardless drugs does not provide happiness also people try to find happiness through music music is a a means of people being emotionally motivated when you're down you play your favorite song it makes you feel up but you can only play your favorite song so much eventually you have to get on with life you can't stay in your room playing your favorite song over and over again so music doesn't do it either because we're music truly the source of happiness then musicians should be among the happiest people in the world but what we find is that musicians get involved in drugs because they're not getting the happiness through the music so they're looking for it through the drugs and the drugs end up in overdoses and all this kind of things so it isn't in music though it seems to be at the time also some people find or think they can find happiness through sex sexual relations but without the source of happiness than the prostitutes should be a happiest people in the world but again we find the FASTA to share not the happiest people in the world they're complaining they're you know it's not a happy life so it's not there either other people seek it through material items or products or possessions the car the ultimate Maserati Ferrari but we here are so many people with these cars killing themselves commenting is suicide it's not there either or a home you buy the biggest home you can still those people with the huge homes castles palaces what happened with Princess Diana didn't she have the castle the ultimate home did she find happiness no orange children some people think they can find happiness through their children since they can't personally achieve certain things they hope that through their children they will achieve these things but again children oftentimes put stress in people's lives you know if you have to raise the kids and the problems that come with raising those kids because they don't do what you feel they should have done so happiness we can't find it there money income money well according to the media money should be what can buy for us happiness the happiest people the person has the yacht they can go off to the West Indies or to seashells and just you know live that nice comfortable luxurious life but what happened to that couple that went from the UK right retired couple they got their yachts they're circling around the world Somali pilot pirates got them that happy happy life that hijacks so even where you think money can do it for you you get hijacked money doesn't necessarily do it so sports people sometimes they focus on the emotions that they're built up in sports you know your favorite team you know cheering for them you feel hyped up you feel that euphoria when your team wins but the team doesn't always win the times when the team loses and you feel down you feel bad you're crying and all the time it's not there in sports either so where is it where will one actually find happiness true happiness well Stephen Covey identified a principle which if a person could live it it would in fact represent a state of happiness he called it the win-win situation where you're winning on both sides it's not a win loss you don't view life from a win-loss perspective if I win he loses if he wins I lose no if he wins I win if I win he can win - so where one looks at things in a positive life of light all the time that could in fact create a state of happiness but reality is that people don't function like that unless there are other factors to motivate them we do see people's success when it's at our own expense as their success in our failure very difficult to find the positive side unless there are some higher principles that can guide us and 1400 years ago in Arabia a man by the name of su habe even seen an who was a disciple or follower of Prophet Muhammad may God's peace and blessings be upon him he quoted the Prophet as saying the affair of the believer is amazing the whole of his life or her life is beneficial and that is only in the case of the true believer when good times comes to him or her he or she is grateful and it is good for him or her I went bad times befall him or her he or she is patient and it is good for him or and this is only in the case of the true believer in this statement of the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him the last prophet of God he identified three principles for true happiness the first was faith the second gratitude and the third patience three principles faith gratitude and patience meaning that gratitude and patience without faith it's not going to work you may be happy for part of the time but without faith you can't keep it up in terms of faith modern research Western researchers looking into different groups of people analyzing their stress levels because stress which produces depression is one of the major diseases of our time is according to recent statistics more than 20 million adults suffer from depression yearly in the US hello I don't have the figures for here in Norway but I'm sure percentage-wise it would be similar in fact the death rate due to suicide was double the rate of those who died from AIDS in 2000 the year 2000 in the US the death rate for those who died from suicide that is depression stress producing these acts was double that of those who died from AIDS but when we hear about these aids and the problem of AIDS but depression is even more so funny also more people die from suicide in America that actually die from homicide homicide when somebody kills you there are more people who kill themselves than are being killed and the crime rate in the u.s. is very high so what we're looking at when we talk about issues of stress and depression is something very very serious because obviously one cannot be happy in a state of stress and depression and doesn't work what they found was that religious people are happier and less stressed than non-religious people in general when they went across all of the various groups they came up with the statistics it showed that high religiousness predicts a lower risk of depression drug abuse fewer suicide attempts and more reports of a sense of well-being all of the various research that was done showed these same conclusions that face practically speaking produces a better sense of well-being among people than a lack of faith if we look in terms of gratitude we find we were just looking at the research products what has come from modern research with regards to these points that the prophet mentioned 1400 years ago what they found is that people who were grateful they had higher levels of well-being they were happier less depressed less stressed and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships grateful people people also had higher levels of control of their environments and that's really important because people who end up depressed one of the big factors and lead people in the depression is feeling a sense where you have no control over your environment your life is just running out of control you're spiraling downwards you can't stop it so when you have this sense of control that is going to alleviate stress so such people have greater and higher levels of personal growth sense of purpose and self-esteem so it has been shown that that state of gratitude is something which is uniquely important though in a lot of the psychological studies they don't put a no very much stress on this at all maybe it's not even mentioned but modern research has shown that it has a major impact even more so than what are known as the big five these are the big five factors which psychology teaches as the broad personality dimensions they don't mention gratitude in it but modern research shows different and as a result of a new trend in psychology from the year 2000 where we had what came to be known as positive psychology there is a positive psychology movement no gratitude became the mainstream focus of their research this was a key figure we find in the Quran where Allah states in the 14th chapter verse 7 if you are grateful I will give you more if you are grateful I will give you more of you're grateful to God grateful in your life you will be blessed with more and actually modern research has shown that it does have an impact on people a very positive motivational impact because they did some studies in restaurants where the waiter would put on the check thank you just right personally as a thank you after the person had paid the check and they found that there was a 60% increase in customers coming back they found in a jewelry store they did a similar test in a jewelry store where after people bought jewelry went home the store would call up the people or email them if they gave their emails and just thank them for having bought from their store and they found a 70% increase in people coming back and buying from them so it's this is something which is real on a spiritual level it's well also on a material level the third principle that of patience is something which psychology doesn't tackle as a characteristic but it really looks at it really as a issue of decision making you know whether you're patient in making a decision or you are hasty they look at it from that perspective and they have concluded they concluded that human beings on the whole if they look at the short-term benefit and the long-term benefits they will be hasty and choose the short term that's was the norm and of course it's mentioned in the bar also over a lhasa o'houlihan in San Arjuna but human beings are created in haste that is a part of their nature but still we are encouraged to be patient great stress placed on patients and some modern researchers have in fact suggested that it should be included in the character strengths and virtues system is called the CSV program or CSB system as one of the key character strengths of course the Quan stresses that it is critical because of the fact that our lives are lives filled with tests life doesn't move along a smooth pattern their ups and downs that's the nature of life it's going up and down for everybody so what gets you through the ups and the downs as allah said in the second chapter verse 155 i will certainly test you with fear hunger loss of wealth lives and fruits so give glad tidings to those who are patient and the Prophet may God's peace and rest be upon him had said no one has been given a greater gift than patience so patience is key so we have these three basic principles faith which modern research has proven improves our state of well-being and gives us a better shot at being happy gratitude also which motivates others to do good and also increases that person's self esteem sense of self worth life has a purpose and patience critical to deal with the stressful circumstances of life because without patience there's no way to handle it so the question then is how do we develop these how does one develop faith gratitude and patience if we are to achieve this first and foremost from the Islamic technical perspective consists of belief in the heart a belief which is stated on the tongue one expresses that belief and is a is acted upon by the limb so it's translated into action it is not just a concept but a concept in action it begins with knowledge as God said in the Quran 47th chapter verse 19 not know that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah this a person has to know this is the beginning of faith to know to have knowledge that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah meaning that without that knowledge one may have faith based on worshipping other than God worshipping animals trees these are all levels of faith and this levels of faith even though they may be wrong they may still have a positive impact on the person but it won't have the full impact unless that faith is the correct faith that correct faith begins with knowing that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah of course that raises another question as to what is worship it is also knowing that worship from the Islamic perspective is not merely going to a mosque and praying that is an aspect of worship but in fact we have the whole concept of worship described in another laQuan were in a law said or told the Prophet to stay two people say indeed my prayers my sacrifice is my living and dying are for Allah Lord of all the worlds meaning that living a life in which one seeks to do what is pleasing to god this is true worship but worship covers all aspects of life it's not limited to prayer or limited to beseeching God in times of difficulty everybody can do that anybody can do that prayer involves living the whole of one's life from the time one gets up in the morning to the time one goes to sleep at night doing what is in fact pleasing to God and of course that requires knowledge and for the increase of faith because that's the question people say well okay I believe that I want to try to do that but my faith seems to be low how do I increase that faith well there's a very simple formula which increases faith and that is that faith increases by doing acts of obedience good needs and it decreases by committing sins very simple formula doesn't require a lot of psychological you know psychiatric delving x' it is clear you do sins your faith goes down you do good deeds righteous deeds your faith goes up in fact so those people were involved in psychological programs to help people under stress what are the things they tell them to do is go out and do a good deed I tell them go out whatever you consider to be a good deed think what is a good deed and then well can do it and they found really that people when they went out and did good deeds they came back with a higher sense of happiness or contentment in their lives many experiments were done on students and this consistently came out in the results secondly gratitude gratitude which is thankfulness or appreciation it is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgement of a benefit that one has received or one will receive it is a positive emotion it is showing thankfulness when people have done things for us this is something which can be learned we learn it first and foremost by realizing that whatever good is in our lives ultimately comes from God as it stated in the quran and a 53rd verse of the sixteenth chapter whatever blessings you have are from Allah and in order to develop that human characteristic of gratitude then it must be implemented practice among our fellow human beings that is why the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him had said whoever doesn't thank people doesn't thank Allah but if we are to be thankful to God it should be manifest in our being thankful to those people around us besides the fact that being thankful to them motivates them to do more good with at the same time we have to recognize what good is done for us even though we know it is ultimately coming from God and in order to preserve our state of gratitude the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him further advises do not look to those above you but to those below you as it is best for you to remember God's favor on you our nature is to always look at people who have more than we have and wish we had what they have and what does that do it makes you feel depressed why don't I have what he has sometimes it takes people to the point of God this is not fair why should he have that and I don't have it why was she born beautiful and I was born ugly you know comes down to that it's not fair it couldn't possibly be a god what's the fairness in it you know what we start to look at others who in the material world seem to have more than us so the Prophet said don't do that don't look at those who seem to be better off than you are better to look at those who are worse off because you can always find them there are always people no matter how bad your situation is you will can always find even worse off so then what is that producing you a sense of gratitude hamdullah hamdulillah I'm not in that situation so that is what helps to preserve that sense of gratitude with regards to the third characteristic patience and this is a tough one so tough that when a man came to the prophet may God's peace in the Sabbath be upon him and asked him what do I need to do to get paradise he said to him one don't get angry that's all don't get angry to have the patience to control where one stops oneself from exploding and of course this is talking about anger over things that it is not necessary to be angry over things that can be overlooked of course one should be angered if one sees evil being done to others you know if one doesn't feel a sense of anger this is wrong and we upset about it then of course there's something wrong with one's faith we're talking about general circumstances where somebody just does something to you it could be accidental but you're exploding you know you're just a time bomb waiting to explode just take something any little thing pressing a button and there you are so the promise our solemn said to this individual don't get angry that patience would be enough to carry him to paradise that's how important patience is so how can we develop this characteristic it's so important and of course Allah refers to it as being the solution for the trials of life those are those who are blessed by Allah those who have that sense of patience they are the ones who are ultimately successful so how do we develop it some people just seem to be more impatient they're just naturally patient whereas the rest of us were struggling how to be patient well prophet muhammad saw Solomon said many of the sambar is a beautiful law that is whoever pretends to be patient Allah will grant the impatience I mean my that's hypocrisy what I mean you're pretending to be patient you know you're exploding on the inside but on the outside creation hypocrisy you're not really patient but the point is that this is the nature of how we can develop positive characteristics that if we repeat this time and time again eventually this will become a real characteristic in the sense that we are able to put whatever is churning burning inside to put that flame out it comes eventually it's like I say practice makes perfect so you work on it if the Prophet may God peace and blessings be upon him said that this is the best way then know that it is the best way and it does work even though people might say no it's hypocrisy no it is a means because you're doing it sincerely for the sake of Allah because you're striving to achieve that level of patience if you're just doing it to show off of course then it is hypocrisy doesn't really benefit you but if you're doing it really striving to achieve that state of patience in your life to make patience one of your your normal characteristics then it is something pleasing to God and you will be granted patience also being patient involves doing things consistently because patience is not just being able to hold oneself in times of trial it's also patience in doing what should be done to patiently persevere to endure circumstances and keep on at it so patience is involved in doing good deeds consistently to involve patients also and the Prophet SAW Selim advised that the good deed done consistently is most beloved to Allah even if it is small so that's what we should struggle for and strive for is consistency better to do a little bit all the time we establish it and we can build on top of that then to jump in and do everything but then like the match you lighted big flame and then you're out so better to be consistent now what are we talking about here we're talking about change in our lifestyle to achieve these characteristics whether it be faith gratitude or patience then it involves us making significant changes in our course of life and this is the challenge the challenge which is before us tonight we have to ask ourselves why did we come here tonight did we really come here to benefit to take something that we will leave which will change the course of our lives to help us really find true happiness in our lives or did we come here to be entertained you know speakers can become like entertainers for people people come to lectures after lectures after lectures after lectures they enjoy they come fill entertained he was a funny speaker he made me laugh but we come back to the next lecture and we're still the same way we were after the first lecture and the third or the fourth and the fifth no real change or we come to socialize socialize we're looking at the reasons why people come to conferences and lectures they come to socialize because we're leaving living scattered lives out there it's the chance to come hang out with the brothers or the sisters with the sisters or it's a question of peer pressure you know some brothers are coming missing aren't you coming to the lecture alright really didn't feel like coming to lecture but okay I'm coming you feel the pressure of your all your friends are going you don't want to be not there or people come to lectures for what for romance brothers get to see the sisters sissies get to see the brothers this is some of the motivating practice this is real we're talking real talk here now why people come here some people came if you ask them tonight why did they come to see we came to see PP who is VP Bilal Philips the mystery speaker some people came just to get a boost in their Iman you know the field a man down so you become hang out with it the believers who get a boost to get leave here feeling better Muslim but the bottom line is that if we keep coming back to the lectures and to the conference's the same way in the same state we were from the previous then we are engaging in what the psychologists call obsessive behavior obsessive behavior meaning what you keep doing the same thing expecting different results this is called obsessive behavior we also call it banging your head against the wall the walls are gonna break your head so we have to ask ourselves seriously when are we going to make this change why shouldn't it be tonight why should we make tonight the beginning point people say well now change takes time you know it takes time rome wasn't built in a day that's true rome wasn't built in a day but change doesn't really take time if you think about whatever changes you've done or we've done in our lives for each instant where we have changed you can see a specific time the day before we were doing this thing the day after we no longer did it or the day before we weren't doing this thing the day after we started doing it change actually is instantaneous what takes time is the decision to change that's the one yeah we can sit and think about it yeah I'll think about it next week and after the next lecture and yeah that can go on till we reach the grave the decision to change so what we need tonight for this lecture on the way to happiness we've seen it's clear what needs to be done we need to be committed to striving to establish real faith in our lives faith which is based on knowledge phase which is implemented in our actions we have to become grateful people who are patient with the struggles of our lives the question is are we ready to do this from tonight look at the issues we've looked at the way the method it's just about implementing that method so what I want to ask of you tonight is for you to put up your hand to show your commitment before God before Allah that you will try to implement this knowledge in your life and make that change tonight how many people are ready to do it this is what we'd like to see yeah and this is something which is between you and Allah in the end because I'm not going to be here next time I'm invited here to give a talk and say hey I remember your hand was up I don't see any change in your life I'm not gonna be here to do that this is between you and Allah but this is what makes these types of conferences worth it that we take something practical and we leave with it and use it to change and to benefit our lives otherwise as I said we're just wasting our time and we will be asked about our time and how we spent it okay Baraka lafi come I ask Allah to bless all of you to make that commitment real and to grant His mercy and His forgiveness for what has gone before and that he blesses with guidance in our lives to really be on that path to paradise where the ultimate happiness lies for those on that path are those who have also found happiness in this life I mean Sarika morocco - liar ghetto with some are Akuma - libertas Zak Allah heavier patients and it's really nice to see so many people here Oslo in Norway's the first time I've been to Oslo in Norway like I said when I landed from the plane the other day I thought I landed in paradise when we woke up in the morning I just saw this snow and his beautiful scenery outside the wood I thought hum dude I got that how unfortunately I saw your ugly faces right what never heads up anyway how are you Lilla it's so good to see you all really it's fantastic sorry about the jokes it's beautiful to see all of you guys no really it is so good it's refreshing to see all of you guys army when in Scandinavia Hana luck and I hope you appreciated dr. bilac ellipses talk if you want to you know there are some copies of that bogus world so it's a slightly different title to search for inner peace which we do have so if some of the not yet Muslims want to read that more thoroughly and as understand the whole argument with that doctor doctors hope they can get that outside in Sharla so we move swiftly over to the the next the last phase of the second day which is the question answer sessions pertaining to the topic before we move into the questions and of course you know the rules about the question so you can start from you know thinking about your questions or if you've already got a question particularly not yet Muslims brothers over here sisters over there okay you can start thinking about your questions or compose yourself you can start standing up near the mics and just try to say who you are you know where you're from what your profession is how many children you've got you know that's it but be prepared okay before we do that before anyone leaves we've got some new good news some more good news at hamdullah so first we ask the brother Norwegian brother to attend he knows what is happening next to take Shahada we do brother please come up I'm more nervous than you but you studied about this and step forward he says anyway you mean this this um okay we have with us brother Bussard who has been doing some reading about Islam and he has concluded that he wants to join the faith and that of course it's the first step in the journey which involves much more study and understanding and he is joining of course with that with the step the whole brotherhood of Islam and he has now become a member you know me being first among them relative to yourself you know your brother in Islam so of course whatever help we can provide for you or any issues or questions that you have you know that you would come back to us so to become a Muslim of course very simple you just have to repeat after me I will say it first in English and then we can say it in Arabic afterwards okay I bear witness I bear witness that there is no God there is no God worthy of worship where they worship but Allah but Allah and I bear witness now bear witness that Muhammad that Muhammad is the last Messenger of Allah it's the last Mitch Messenger of Allah ashadu ashadu an LA ilaha illa Allah illallah WA ash hadu wash us ah ha ha ash hadu father and mohammed el mohammed rasoolallah and so Allah welcome they just do it come on it's not giving up let's go man so whilst all the excitement's going on down here we've now the brothers like I said he's never been hugged by another man in his life he's got another thing coming so they mean well bro so I just like to also you know it was just don't to strike you guys from this beautiful scene that's going on down here there are some sisters who also want to take Shahada in the balcony so I understand that we want to get this two sisters logged off so if they can come down to the microphone over here there was some brother that came to me yesterday and he said there are not enough Norwegian sisters Muslim sisters so I have to marry a flick it up it's happening brothers no excuses now ah hamdulillah so Shaykh follow ok sisters can you say your names please mr. Hasani and the other sister Sara Sara ok you've both studied about Islam for some time yes and nobody is forcing you to accept Islam no ok of course I won't go into details about exactly why you're choosing to accept Islam I just assume that you have enough knowledge about it to make this step huh so as you saw before to become Muslim now you just have to repeat after me you can both do it at the same time together I bear witness I bear witness that there is no God there is no God worthy of worship worthy of worship but Allah but Allah and I bear witness and I bear witness that Muhammad that Muhammad is the last Messenger of Allah this is the last Messenger of Allah in Arabic ashadu ashadu allah la ilaha illa allah la loi wash I do wash and Ana Muhammadan muhammaden-rasul allah rasool ullah welcome to Islam I'm Pamela Wright just in the time-honored fashion than brothers and sisters is there anybody else who wants to take Shahada I mean you know you've seen the other brothers and sisters in humanity yeah za kala here very very good point the brothers saying we should look after the new Muslims what you know we got the same thing in England going on and some of the statistics are pretty frightening about the number of people who come into the deen of islam they don't get looked after and they actually apostate yeah I think there should be for each of the sisters there should be a sister amongst you there who commits herself to follow up with a sister like the practice of the Prophet may God's peace and blessing be upon him when Muslims came to Medina that he made a brotherhood pact with the people of Medina similarly for our brother who has come in is there somebody who's responsible yeah who will be his buddy into okay so you'll be following up with him and whatever help whatever he needs and you channel it back through the organizations that they can make sure to help him huh so similarly do we have two sisters that are responsible for these two sisters ah that's one two okay three even good masha'Allah exact love had shaped a lot for that and just reminded the new Muslims there are some new Muslim courses coming up with hussain yi so all of you people who have accepted islam and those people who accepted islam relatively recently or even as which years ago and you don't know too much because maybe you haven't interacted with the Muslims or read anything well then it's up to you to come to those courses and then you can go to these stores at the back you know in the entranceway and sign up for those courses and make sure that you engage in learn as much as possible about your new way your new direction insha'Allah your newfound direction okay so I take it from that that was just a question or an observation look after the new Muslims there's no other people who want to accept Islam Upstairs Downstairs okay well if you do you go to the microphone here and here and we can deal with that in Sharla in the meantime so we crack on or resumed the question-and-answer session for the share on the topic so do we have any questions from this is that hullabaloo and the Shahada is you know I think people are any brothers down there one question over here okay we'll start with the brother over here if you come to the microphone he's mentioned who you are what your profession is and then question I have a question from a non-muslim how does he know that inside or in the heart that Islam is the right religion if is there any advice if you have any doubts the question how does a person know in his heart that Islam is the right religion well I think first the person should be convinced that there is a right religion that's what they need to be clear on because for a lot of people the issue of is there a right religion has to be clear so once they've accepted that yes there must be a right religion that God in His wisdom didn't leave people on their own that he did send messengers to guide them then the in simple way is to compare to compare the religions look at what is being taught and then look at what is a true candidate for being the true religion then one turns to God and ask for God's guidance and God will make it clear and plain for them but it's true knowledge what we don't want people to to join religion on the basis of emotion where you're emotionally you know caught up but it should be based on knowledge after knowledge then you give your emotional commitment so the advice would be to get all your questions answered all the basic questions study some of the other religions so it doesn't mean doesn't mean you don't come into the religion you didn't know about any other religions so you have an idea and then when you're convinced in your heart then inshallah that's the time to make the move okay so is that that is she yeah okay good yeah that's that's a good point sorry I mean I've been saying that throughout the last two days but I forgot Shakers reminded me if there is any not yet Muslims and they want to ask questions if you feel shy write them down like the question down believe me and I mean I I've listened to abominable out flips until I well before I embrace Islam I was reading his books and listening to his they were tapes then they weren't DVDs hey what tapes audio tapes I used to put them in the car and listen on journeys and I got knowledge from that hamdullah so those people who want to ask questions pertaining to you know any issue non-muslim please do write your question down I'll come to the you know come to the microphones and we have any question from sisters there is a question is a question about actually which is pertaining to be talking a lot of people are struggling with the concept of buying their own house and financing the purchase of their own house in Norway tickly a lot of Muslims have mentioned that and they were talking about the prohibition of arriba and they wanted you to explain share that is that I mean what is there anything miss ability at all in buying a house or you know if you're here you can't maybe you've got nowhere to live a lot of people they don't they don't have welfare state system with social housing here in Norway half the salary goes to the Brennan's more than that yeah it's like London anyway so they're asking for a bit of advice on that hamdulillah salat WA Salam o Surya to deal with issues of purchasing one's own home what was done in Canada where I grew up was that Muslims formed an association Housing Association where the members of that Association all contributed a certain amount monthly into a fund and they then drew by straws who would get the first house when the amount of money reached sufficient to get a house than the person who was first in the list they got the house but the house remained in the name of the co-operative until everybody received their house so what it's saying is that this situation forced Muslims to come and to work together you couldn't the only way to do it on your own was to go to the bank and get the mortgage and this was Haram so the alternative is that the Muslim community work together and develop the alternatives and that is the proper way as opposed to just saying well you know I cannot afford it so therefore I'm going to the bank no you sacrifice even if it means half of your salary is going to rent at the end of the year you don't have a place but you have to know that if you're paying half of your salary in rent that every kronor that you pay is blessed by Allah that's what you have to be certain of because you're paying it to avoid going into RIBA going into interest so know that every kronor is blessed by Allah whereas if you do the mortgage know that every kronor you pay is cursed by Allah so though you may end up with a home but it is a cursed home as the Prophet SAW selamat said about the man on the journey who dustin is here falls on his knees raises his hands praise to allah but prophet assalam said how is allah going to answer his prayer when the food that is eaten is Haram the money that he is earned is Haram the flesh that has grown and his body has grown from Haram how is Allah going to answer his prayers so that is the bottom line we should know that even though that person was on a journey and we know that's the best time to make du'a isn't it raises his hands that's one of the correct actions in making duaa but his dois was rejected because his food his earnings were Haram so my advice as I said for the community to come together create that Association we did it in Canada you can do it here but it requires effort sacrifice commitment but it can be done these are colorful just let you know also that's gone on in Leicester in London and in England as well wherever they've set up cooperatives and there are many cooperatives actually all around the Western sort of Europe area of people buying houses and helping each other to obtain like the shakers saying we have we have one from the sisters and one from here who are we going to go to oh yeah sisters chance go ahead Salam alaikum my name is LOM uh-huh I got a question from sisters she says how can one person get better at controlling one's negative emotions when someone tries to be patient but has a problem being consisted in daily life any advice in terms of controlling negative emotions it can be it is countered by positive emotions that want us to develop positive outlooks and that's what we spoke about where positivism in Islam begins with gratitude and it is nurtured by patience so one has to do good deeds one has to be grateful whenever good deeds is done and at the same time one has to be patient and make patience a part of their day-to-day lifestyle when that happens then the negative pessimistic outlook will start to change but one has to make that commitment and make those steps and ultimately it has to be for the sake of God for the sake of Allah because that's what's going to keep them committed and if one is doing it just for people just to prove something to other people then will not be able to maintain gratitude and patience throughout our lives will always falter will always end up falling apart because there are a million and one reasons why not to be grateful and why not to be patient example ahead there's another one which says there are many people who say they love the teachings they like the teachings of Islam share and if you ask them why they haven't become Muslims they have no answer but they've heard they've heard about the teachings of Islam they're just sort of waiting for a sign is there any advice that you would give to those people if they're in the room well I would say that one needs to answer the question why not you know one needs to address and to find out what is the reason why one is hesitating may usually it comes down to issues of family what are people going to say what are my friends going to say that's the usual you know factor which will hold certain people back and we know that happened even at a time of the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him or his own uncle Abu Talib didn't accept Islam for that same fear that's what it means that it is it's something I've heard many many times in many many places but for those of you in the audience who might have that thought or have that obstacle then you have to reflect on the fact that we don't know when our time is going to come we don't know when we're going to die if we have an awareness of the truth then we need to commit ourselves to the truth take it on and know that God ultimately will provide will protect and will help us through the rest of our life there are people all through the centuries from the earliest of times who have made this choice and they have been successful in their lives they've gone through difficulties they have suffered etc but all of this is for the good if one is sincere it will serve to make one a stronger believer and ultimately when we stand before God on the day of judgment he's not going to ask us about our family our friends our neighbors etc he's going to ask us about ourselves why we didn't make the choice when we could Shakalaka shake and the another question from the sister or sisters um assalamualaikum cement um I have a friend that is not yet a Muslim and she wants to become a Muslim but there's a lot of things she doesn't want to give up like partying or yeah um alcohol but she's not a dick that she just likes alcohol okay and she wants to become a Muslim but she doesn't want to give up that part of her life what should I tell her just the alcohol is it open party well I would say that I'm sure there's a lot of Muslims here who are partying no I won't ask you to put your hands up mm-hmm but I'm sure there are a lot who are partying so she can come and become a Muslim and still party it's not to say that it's something that we're going to encourage you to keep on doing but we believe that having become a Muslim and learned about the religion started to practice it then the need to party will get less and less until inshallah you give it up and even in the case of alcohol some people might say oh no how are you going to let her take Shahada and she's still drinking well is it better for her to take Shahada and still drink or is it better for her not to take Shahada and still drink take your headache obviously so I would say if she wants to become a Muslim let her become a Muslim let her know of course she knows that alcohol is forbidden that she will have to deal with it she has to go beyond it but better for her to go ahead and become a Muslim than not xakanaka and I think that's very clear thank you her brother's question how is she going to make prayer if she's drunk no it's good good no what what did Allah say in the Quran lattaker Abu Salah wa antum su cara in other words don't come to prayer don't pray when you're intoxicated so we tell her that simply as Allah said don't pray when you're intoxicated no I'm saying we understand this brother when saying you asked how is she going to pray when she's intoxicated we tell her don't pray when you're intoxicated that's it that's the start yes she could be intoxicated with the worship of Allah instead of the Hummer pray for her to reach that state inshallah inshallah may Allah make it easy for her to take that decision and soon as possible before she meets meets Allah Chawla then we got another question requite a nice question what does Islam say about love it's very vague I think it means I'm not sure it probably means the love of Allah is it or love as in women and men loving each other well maybe the person who asked the question should clarify it what is your night by that question if we knew what it meant but because it's a big big topic yeah but what we can just say in general that as the promise I seldom had said you know one is not a true believer unless one loves Allah and His Messenger more than anyone or anything in this world that the basis of our belief is love love of God that the love of God should be greater than the love of the material world and the things of this material world Allah Chawla Shakalaka and question about hijab hello Haram Sunnah it's a long one well hey job is quite simple hijab is an obligation on Muslim women and of course it doesn't mean that if a Muslim woman doesn't wear she hid jobs she's no longer Muslim but she is in sin on the perspective of God she is in sin if she doesn't wear hijab a job meaning that she covers her body the whole of her body in loose garment from head to toe nothing being seen of her except her face and hands and we should also know because all the time we talk about your job we always speak about the hijab of women but we should also know that there is a job of men the job of men not just a there's a mental hijab also yes we know about that hijab but there's the other head job which is the external hijab where it is prohibited for a Muslim man to wear pants which expose his private parts because at the same time we say women cover yourself but then we're walking out with spandex pants men so there's no double standard in Islam as a woman it is not acceptable hijab for her to wear something on her head but she wears a top which is so tight she may as well not be wearing any top or a bottom that is so tight she may as well not be wearing any bottom we don't accept that as hijab it's not your job similarly for men particularly between the navel and the knee their garment should be so loose that private parts are not exposed and this is a big issue because a lot of the Muslim community the males in the Muslim community have ignored this and scholars will tell you and you will know that one of the conditions for the correctness or acceptability of Salah is what satoru Laura covering the private parts so covering the private parts is no different for men than women in the sense that between the navel and knee which is the private area of the male that is supposed to be covered in a similar manner the garment should be loose so pants that are western-style pants for Muslims is really not acceptable unless you're wearing a top which comes down to your knee or you're wearing loose pants like the shalwar Pakistani France the waist is like this wide you know it comes together whatever this is a point that you need to address because if you are serious about the Dean then we don't have a double standard one standard of exposing our or covering our for men and another standard for women no we have one standard in Islam Shakalaka shapes and envelopes and hamdullah but unfortunately that comes really drawing to us to a close for second day because we have to be out of the building pretty soon Oh

Channel: Islam Net

Views: 109,470

Rating: 4.7791166 out of 5

Keywords: western, world, islam, allah, muslim, net, islamnet, norway, sentrum, scene, peace, conference, scandinavia, 2010, preacher, islamist, ahadith, quran, Muhammad, suffering, just, Prophet, Sheikh, Koran, Nasheed, Ramadan, Ahmed, Imam, Holy, Mecca, Arabic, Moses, jannah, dr., abu, ameenah, bilal, philips, abdur-raheem, greeen, hussein, yee, yusuf, chambers, kamal, uddin, ali, mohammed, salah

Id: c4LoY9YLQgw

Length: 83min 16sec (4996 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 19 2012