A couple of weeks ago I was blessed with the opportunity to be a speaker along sheikh Talal, one of the teachers that has had a great influence on me al-hamdulillah. The session was titled “Know Your Prophet” and was at the Halton Islamic Association (now on the blogroll :) ). I spoke on the miracles of the prophet, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, and sheikh Talal spoke about his character, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, and his role in our lives. In the Q&A the first question was about people that reject hadeeth, or that consider that only Bukhari and Muslim should be taken as authoritative, or other arguments. I started out with my attempt at an answer - I basically said the usual surface-level stuff about the science of hadeeth and its rigor, as well as the clear arguments in the Quran about the sunnah. You might call it a simple, direct answer. Then sheikh Talal took the mic. The question and both our answers are in this 15 minute audio clip. I suggest you listen to the question then skip ahead to sheikh Talal’s answer at 7:19. There are a couple of spots where he stops to gather his thoughts and decide whether more needs to be said before continuing. If you’ll take my advice you’ll hear this answer through to the end. I would say that his answer revolved around “the questions not asked.” I think if you really understand what he said it would affect your entire outlook on life as a Muslim in the West. (p.s. for some reason the voices are quite a bit distorted - it doesn’t sound like this when I play the original clip on my PC - but at any rate the answer is still clear and that’s what matters, I hope :) ). QuestionsNotAsked
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I live in Oakville, ON with Hebba and our two boys Mustafa and Mahmood, teach Electrical Engineering at McMaster University, and I am a director of the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC). I enjoy reading, writing, logic games, and intelligent discussion. I have a growing compilation of jokes about Egypt, marriage, and that moron in the White House. Life changing books: Ihya by Imam Ghazzaly and Said Hawwa's commentary on the Hikam by Ibn Ataa.
Subhanallah, I used to think that way, but if you answer the same answer he did people don’t feel satisfied. They may think you are either arrogant or don’t know the answer, subhanallah. Thanks for sharing :)
I’ve dealt with many people that think the same way as the questioner. It shows that Sheikh Talal is absolutely right to say that there is a problem in our understanding of our Islam. But I think that only puts a higher burden on those that do understand to explain it to those that do not.
Salaam Yaser,
inshallah everything is going fine with you. You should update! Anyway the following caught my attention so I thought i’d share it with you….
Imam Ghazali (ra) on Repentance
The weighty words of the Proof of Islam:
“If you repent then break your repentance by returning to sin, then rush back to repentance.
Say to yourself, ‘Perhaps I will die before returning to sin this time.’
Similarly, do this a third and fourth time.
Just as you have made sin and returning to it a profession, make repentance and returning to it a profession.
Do not be more incapable of repentance than you are of sin, nor lose hope, and do not let the Shaytan use this to prevent you from repenting.
For indeed it is a sign of good.
Did you not hear his [the Prophet’s] (Allah bless and grant him peace) saying, ‘The best of you are every one who is often tried and often penitent.’
Which means they are often tried by sin and repent much and return to Allah (Transcendent and Exalted is He) with remorse and seeking forgiveness.
Remember the saying of Allah (Most high): ‘And he who does evil or wrongs himself, then seeks forgiveness from Allah, he will find Allah Very Forgiving, Merciful.’[4:110]” [1]
wasalam,
abdul
assalaamu alaikum Dr. Yaser, I hope you’re doing well. I’m sure many of us are still waiting for an update :)
Jazaakumullahu khayran. It is on its way - Promise! Sorry it’s just taking a long time to write itself :)
:)