Quran Study From Behrouz 1626 Sura 67 By Gatut Hamid Argues With Rashad
Transcript
0:00 Gatut: (We seek) refuge in God from the rejected devil.
0:02 Bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem
0:03 In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
0:07 We are in Sura 67, Kingship (Al-Mulk).
0:15 [67:1] Most exalted is the One in whose hands is all kingship, and He is Omnipotent.
0:23 Well, I have to stop here.
0:26 The verse says very clearly that in God is all the Kingship.
0:33 So, Kingship means that He is the sole and the only authority in this whole universe.
0:41 And He is also Omnipotent according to this verse.
0:45 We also learn from the Quran that God grants Kingship to whomever He wills, and He grants it to the believers.
0:53 In other words, we know that people who worship God alone and follow God's commandment alone,
1:03 God promised them that they will be sovereign, or. kings or queens on earth.
1:09 In other words, they have everything that they need.
1:14 Everything that they need will be in their fingertips without, you know, the headache of a celebrity
1:20 that we know, you know, needs bodyguards, protection from FBI, or you cannot go to Burger King
1:30 to eat if you want because that's the headache of being a celebrity.
1:34 You have a prison on your own, but God's servants, the believers, have all this and can still
1:41 enjoy this, and they have anything that they want. And I think that's the biggest, you know,
1:46 even the richest person in the world cannot do that because they will go everywhere and everybody
1:53 or some people or some news reporter will follow them. You know, Sam Donaldson will follow them
1:59 and ask questions and all that.
2:00 So, the believers don't have that kind of headache.
2:06 The same goes with the, you know, financial problems.
2:11 They don't need 10 million dollars, but they have everything that they need.
2:16 They get good transportation. They get anything that they need, good clothings, without being, you know,
2:24 without worrying that the IRS will get into their pocket or something.
2:28 Gatut: So,... Dr. Khalifa: All the food they can eat.
2:30 Gatut: All the food that they can eat. That's right. Which is what we have today. Alhamdu Lillah.
2:36 So, God grants kingship to whomever He wills, and according to the Quran, that is the believers.
2:43 Verse 2, The Purpose of Our Life.
2:46 [67:2] The One who created death and life for the purpose of distinguishing those among you who would do better.* He is the Almighty, the Forgiving.
2:58 God created death and life to distinguish the human beings who are the real believers
3:06 and who are the wishy-washy ones.
3:09 We all know that the purpose behind creating us here in this life and the whole universe is
3:19 because billions of years ago, we doubted God's Supreme Authority.
3:25 In other words, there is one guy who said "well, I can be a god besides God."
3:29 And we, all the human beings, this is before the creation of the heavens and the earth and,
3:35 you know, our stay here, we don't show our firm stand for God.
3:41 In other words, we said "well, this guy who was Satan, he may have a point."
3:47 In other words, "let's give him a try. Let's test him."
3:50 So, we didn't have a firm stand as opposed to the angels, for instance, who said that
3:55 "there is no way that anybody except God can rule the universe."
3:59 So, God gave us the second chance to redeem ourselves and this is because of His Mercifulness.
4:08 God doesn't need to prove anything.
4:11 He already knew.
4:12 He knows what's gonna happen.
4:14 There's no future for Him because as far as He is concerned, everything is past. Everything has taken place.
4:20 Only He knew it.
4:21 But we need to affirm to ourselves, in other words, on the Day of Judgment,
4:27 everybody will see with their own eyes that this is what they do, that they do not really believe or they are a real believer.
4:36 So, it is the human beings who need the affirmations.
4:39 So, there'll be no excuses on the Day of Judgment.
4:46 And verse says that "He is Almighty, the Forgiving."
4:48 He is Forgiving because even though we committed the blasphemy, we committed the crime
4:55 that makes us, you know, here in this life right now, He didn't send us outright to Hell, but He gave us a second chance.
5:05 The angels said, of course, at the time when we were created "why don't You just send them all to Hell?"
5:12 God says "I know what you do not know."
5:16 Because God knows that some of the human beings will be redeemed.
5:20 And these are the believers.
5:24 Number 3,
5:26 [67:3] He created seven universes in layers. You do not see any imperfection in the creation by the Most Gracious. Keep looking; do you see any flaw?
5:36 [67:4] Look again and again; your eyes will come back stumped and conquered.
5:43 [67:5] We adorned the lowest universe with lamps, and guarded its borders with projectiles against the devils; we prepared for them a retribution in Hell.
5:55 [67:6] For those who disbelieved in their Lord, the retribution of Gehenna. What a miserable destiny.
6:03 [67:7] When they get thrown therein, they hear its furor as it fumes.
6:08 Number 8,
6:09 [67:8] It almost explodes from rage. Whenever a group is thrown therein, its guards would ask them, "Did you not receive a warner?"
6:18 [67:9] They would answer, "Yes indeed; a warner did come to us, but we disbelieved and said, 'GOD did not reveal anything. You are totally astray.'"
6:28 [67:10] They also say, "If we heard or understood, we would not be among the dwellers of Hell!"
6:33 [67:11] Thus, they confessed their sins. Woe to the dwellers of Hell.
6:43 Verse number 3, we learn from here that our universe is not the only universe that God created.
6:50 The scientists, the astronomers, are still trying to determine, you know, the limit or the borders of the universe where we live in.
6:59 And according to God, and this will be proven, IN SHAA ALLAH, in the near future, that
7:08 this universe is only one of the seven universes that God created.
7:12 Dr. Khalifa: (unintelligible)
7:26 Gatut: Our universe...
7:27 Dr. Khalifa: (unintelligible)
7:31 Dr. Khalifa: Go ahead.
7:32 Gatut: Our universe we live in, we live in the, a little dot called the planet Earth, which is located in the solar system.
7:45 We have our own star, which is the sun.
7:48 And our star is one of the hundreds of thousands of stars in our galaxy, which is the Milky Way galaxy.
7:56 And our Milky Way galaxy is one of the billions of galaxies in the universe that, you know, they stopped counting
8:05 because they couldn't get the total number.
8:08 But the universe that we live in, which according to rough calculation is probably about 26
8:17 billion light years across, is only the smallest universe.
8:20 That means that it takes 26 billion years for light to travel.
8:27 Billions with a B. So, that's how awesome is the innermost universe.
8:32 And there are six other universes around the innermost universe.
8:37 And everything is, all the seven universes, according to the Quran, is in God's hand.
8:50 However, the innermost universe is also, according to verse number five, is actually the prison cell for Satan.
9:02 Because he cannot go beyond our universe.
9:07 In Sura 72, verse 9, and also in Sura 15, verse 18, there's the same reference of, you know,
9:15 the guard of the universe that, you know, the jinns and Satan cannot go beyond because they will be pursued by projectiles.
9:27 But nobody can find any flaw in God's creation.
9:38 You know, we just look and lay down at a dark night when the moon is, you know, very young and look at the stars.
9:46 I used to do camping a long time ago when I was young.
9:49 And I always, you know, lie down and look at the dark night and look at the stars.
9:53 And I'm always, you know, never ceased to be amazed how all these can become into being.
10:01 Our sun is just one of the dim stars in the universe, in our universe which is the Milky Way galaxy and
10:10 billions of galaxies like that.
10:12 And yet, we cannot imagine how vast is the universe because until now there is no way
10:21 that we can even go to our closest neighboring star.
10:25 And not to mention the neighboring galaxy.
10:31 Verse 4 says this perfectly,
10:32 [67:4] Look again and again; your eyes will come back stumped and conquered.
10:35 And that's, at least that's my impression when I look at the stars.
10:40 We also learn from verse 5 that the lowest universe, which is our universe, is adorned with lamps, which is stars.
10:48 This is... We know that lamp is the source of light.
10:51 And we know that our sun is one of the stars.
10:57 So, what is implied here is probably that only our universe has stars.
11:02 So, we don't know how the outer universes, the second, the third universes look like.
11:17 We also learn from this Sura in verse 7, 8 and 9, how terrible is the condition in Hell.
11:28 We know that Hell is reserved only for those people who go out of their way to reject
11:35 or deny God's Greatness.
11:39 And therefore, when people go there, people go there on their own volition because
11:49 despite of all these warnings that God sent through the messengers, through the scriptures,
11:53 and through all the signs that God manifested to the people, they still insist on going
11:59 there. And therefore, it's like they already deserve what they get over there.
12:04 But God explains here how terrible is the condition in hell.
12:10 It is like, Hell has its own personality.
12:13 I mean, Hell has its own, Hell can be so angry towards the disbelievers because when the disbelievers were sent there
12:20 group by group, Hell can even, you know, sort of talk back to them.
12:23 "Suffer. What do you do? Why did you...?"
12:26 "Can I have more?"
12:27 In some other verses in the Quran Hell says "can I have more of these people?"
12:31 You know, because...
12:32 It's like, you know, a very, very savage beast.
12:35 But Hell is simply the absence of God.
12:39 In other words, these people cannot stand to become close to God because they did not develop
12:44 their soul enough in this life.
12:47 And therefore on the Day of Judgment, they have to run away from God.
12:50 They couldn't stand the presence of God. And
12:53 that absence of God is really actually Hell.
12:55 Because in some of the verses in the Quran, we learn that Hell is also described by darkness, by hopelessness,
13:03 also fire where people are roasted there and never die.
13:08 So, there is no excuse for the disbelievers when they go there because they have been warned here
13:13 as, with, you know, as best allegory as human language can find.
13:19 As a matter of fact, in verse 9, we know that disbelievers will, what is the word, they will accept the blame. This...
13:32 [67:9] ...."Yes indeed; we had a warner, but we disbelieved and said, 'GOD did not reveal anything. You are totally astray.'"
13:39 And this is exactly what majority of the people will say when one quotes, you know, from the scripture, you know,
13:46 one is conveying the word of God, they say "we don't believe you. You are far off. You are strange."
13:53 So, that's what they say in this life and in the Hereafter, they will admit that.
13:59 And they also said in verse 10 "if we heard or understood, we would not be among the dwellers of Hell."
14:04 Thus in verse 11, they actually confess their sins.
14:11 I think, if there's any questions or comments or anything, give it at the forum.
14:37 Gatut: Any comments or...?
14:39 Dr. Khalifa: Any questions?
14:40 Wait. As usual, I have a comment on (unintelligible) in the heaven or the sky.
14:48 We have here this list of Prayers, schedule for Prayers, an eternal schedule.
14:56 It is correct forever.
14:59 You can see in the whole year, the sunrise and sunset, by the minute.
15:05 You could have extended it to the second and it would be exactly accurate.
15:09 You look here at January 1st, the sunrise at a certain time, the sun will rise exactly at that time.
15:15 The sunset at that time, it will exactly be at that time. So, there is no flaw in God's system.
15:22 We know exactly when Halley's Comet is gonna come back.
15:26 It comes every 76 years.
15:29 And sure enough, right on time, there it is coming, at that point in time.
15:33 Even though Halley's Comet in an aberration. It looks like an aberration, though it's not. It is not
15:41 So, this is why God says in 4,
15:43 [67:4] Look again and again; your eyes will come back stumped and conquered.
15:46 You are looking for a flaw.
15:48 You will not find one.
15:51 And we have a shared demonstration as to how the moon, we see only one side of the moon,
15:59 even though it is rotating around itself and around the earth, but this movement is synchronized
16:04 so precisely that if it is off by a fraction of a second, we would see the other side of the moon.
16:11 We look at poetry describing the moon that is thousands of years old, and they have been looking at the same side of the moon.
16:21 So, I just wanted to emphasize that because we have a demonstration right here.
16:26 The flawless nature of God's creation.
16:29 So, these words of the Quran are flawless as well.
16:39 Back to Gatut.
16:41 Gatut: Verse 12.
16:45 [67:12] As for those who reverence their Lord, when alone in their privacy, they have attained forgiveness and a great recompense.
16:55 Before we go to that page, I'll just comment here that it's very important that the belief has to be
17:02 also subjected to the test of whether we are believing because of the crowd or whether we are believing because of our own conviction.
17:11 And majority of the people, if they say they believe, that is because usually this is the norm in the society.
17:17 In other words, if the norm in the society is that the people believe in God,
17:22 if they don't believe in God, they say openly "I don't believe in God", then they're kind of like sore fingers sticking out.
17:30 So, they don't want to be in that position. They go along with the crowd even though, in their heart, they don't really believe.
17:36 And this is why the words "when alone in their privacy" is very important in my opinion because
17:44 even when the believer is by himself or by herself, he still observes God.
17:51 I mean, there's no difference whether he or she is in the group or by himself or herself.
17:56 Dr. Khalifa: So, fasting is a good example of that because fasting is a strictly private (unintelligible). Gatut: Exactly.
18:02 You only... You have to be a believer in God, because you can drink or eat anywhere,
18:09 where nobody can see you, no human beings can see you, only God sees you.
18:14 So, this is a good example.
18:15 Gatut: That reminds me of a story from some sister who said, when the husband is not there, you say "well,
18:23 you can eat, you can drink, the husband is not here", you know.
18:27 But, you know, people who said that, seriously, they did not realize how deep, it's not just simply
18:34 something out of skin, it is something that the believer has the conviction in their heart. So,
18:40 it's not because of the husband or the wife or the parents or, you know, in-laws that we fast or that we observe God, that's because of our convictions.
18:49 Dr. Khalifa: And when a need arises here in this community, the charity fund in the drawer.
18:55 The people are putting money there and they put this envelope and they write the name of the person that it goes to. And it's anonymous.
19:03 I try very hard to read the handwriting, but there is no way.
19:08 I have failed 100% of the time.
19:10 But the person who's putting money in there anonymously, who sees this person?
19:15 There's a good number of believers here who believe in God in privacy, because what is the credit they are getting?
19:23 They know they're getting the credit from God.
19:26 And we know that God writes in other verses in the Quran that if you give to charity publicly, it is good, but if you give it secretly, it's even better and remits more of your sins.
19:36 And obviously the people who are doing this, they know that this is the truth, they know that God will give them the credit.
19:42 There is no reason in the world for them to put money there, anonymously, except for knowing that God will give them... they get the credit from God.
19:52 So, this is a perfect example of this verse here, 12.
19:57 Mã Shã Allãh.
20:04 Gatut: [67:13] Whether you keep your utterances secret, or declare them, He is fully aware of the innermost thoughts.
20:14 [67:14] Should He not know what He created? He is the Sublime, Most Cognizant.
20:21 This is sort of a rhetorical question.
20:25 God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Of course, He knows what, you know, what,
20:33 everything that He created. He's fully aware of all the creation that He made.
20:39 I mean, in the Quran, there is even a verse that says "not a single leaf falls without Him being knowing all that." So,
20:50 if we know, if we can count, if it is possible to count how many trees are there in the world
20:55 and if it is possible to count how many leaves in every tree, which is impossible for any human being,
21:01 but God knows every single leaf that falls.
21:04 That is how far, we cannot imagine how great is God.
21:11 So, we cannot even hide anything from God.
21:14 You know, the children are usually very very, still very innocent.
21:18 And they used to be, you know, talk to them about, you know, God and...
21:24 The best way would be, in my experience, they can lie to you, but we told them that you cannot lie to God.
21:30 You can lie to your parents, you can lie, but God will always know.
21:34 So, in the end, they are the ones who keep saying this all the time.
21:39 God always knows whether we declare anything or we keep it secret.
21:46 15.
21:47 [67:15] He is the One who put the Earth at your service. Roam its corners, and eat from His provisions. To Him is the final summoning.
21:56 I just read the new translation of the Quran and one of the footnotes, in one of the footnotes, Rashad put
22:07 the analogy of this earth as a spaceship.
22:11 So, when NASA launches any spaceship, you know, spaceship with two or three people aboard, they have to calculate
22:19 exactly how many they're gonna be there, so how much food, how much oxygen, how much water they need.
22:24 Yet these people are celebrities.
22:26 These people came back from, you know, from space for a week or two months or whatever,
22:31 and they came back as celebrities and everybody knew them. You know, they are in the newspaper and everything.
22:36 Yet God sent us in this spaceship earth, and we are the ones who originally committed sin and, you know,
22:45 blasphemed against God because we were not sure of God's greatness. Yet God gave us this beautiful
22:52 spaceship earth with all kinds of provision, not only just food and drink,
22:57 but also with fuels and all kinds of lakes, mountains, coasts, beaches and all that.
23:05 And this is because God is the Most Gracious. He's trying to give us a second chance and
23:12 we have to, you know, we have to...and we know from the scripture, from the Quran, that most people will fail to take the second chance.
23:19 But yet God gave that in advance and see whether, you know, whether we can appreciate that.
23:24 Sura... verse 15 says "the earth is put for our service."
23:29 Everything in this earth is actually put for our service.
23:31 The animals, the metals, the minerals, the fuel that we can get, anything that we have in this earth is actually created by God for our service.
23:43 Yet actually we are sinners in the beginning to start with.
23:50 So, this comparison makes me wonder if a little bit of room in the universe, I mean in the space
24:00 where these astronauts can climb through and make some celebrities, what about us?
24:05 God gives us all this for free and we actually are not even celebrities. We are, you know,...
24:10 Dr. Khalifa: We don't have to wear space suits here.
24:12 Gatut: Exactly.
24:15 Dr. Khalifa: We can take a shower in space, too.
24:25 Gatut: Number sixteen,
24:25 [67:16] Have you guaranteed that the One in heaven will not strike the earth and cause it to tumble?
24:30 [67:17] Have you guaranteed that the One in heaven will not send upon you a violent storm? Will you then appreciate the value of My warning?
24:39 [67:18] Others before them have disbelieved; how terrible was My requital!
24:48 We know that the earth is such an insignificant mote in God's universe and everything else that is
25:00 in the universe that God created actually fits the palm of God.
25:06 Everything, according to God, is in God's hands.
25:08 So, when a human being looks at a mountain, it's a huge mountain, and they say "this is...
25:14 "there is no way that anybody can move this."
25:16 But God says here that nobody can guarantee that nothing will happen to the earth.
25:25 It's very easy for God, if He wills, to strike the earth, wipe out all the disbelievers,
25:32 "cause it to tumble" according to this verse.
25:39 [67:17] Have you guaranteed that the One in heaven will not send upon you a violent storm? ...
25:43 This is 17.
25:44 Until now, the weather prediction or weather forecast is still an art.
25:50 I met one guy who is finishing his PhD in this atmospheric science in the university,
25:57 and even he considers that weather forecast is still an art.
26:02 With all the supercomputers that they have, actually weather service is probably one of the biggest agencies that uses supercomputers.
26:08 They still cannot predict whether it's gonna be rain today or tomorrow in a localized area.
26:13 Not to mention the global weather pattern.
26:17 It's still a very difficult subject to deal with.
26:21 And nobody can guarantee whether this place will get rain with certainty.
26:24 They cannot, you know, we just...
26:29 All we need to do is just watch TV and see the weather forecast and how often they make mistakes.
26:36 So, God can very easily send a violent storm if He wants to.
26:41 If He decides that somebody needs to be shaken up in this area, then God sends a storm there.
26:47 Also, the storm actually will fertilize the soil.
26:52 But all these are warnings, and we should be able to appreciate that.
26:57 And we learn from history, and the best history is actually the Quran.
27:01 Because one of the chapters in the Quran is called history.
27:03 And God says in the Quran that the most important lesson in history, when we study or anybody studies history, is
27:11 that we know why these things are happening and how to avoid them. Now, we're...
27:16 We know consistently that anybody or any group or any society who oppose God and His messenger,
27:21 eventually will be wiped out and eventually will be defeated.
27:27 So, we know that this happens to the groups of people that came before us.
27:32 And all are recorded in this word of God that is, not only we know that it's truth, but we have the proof for it, which is the mathematical composition of it.
27:43 [67:19] Have they not seen the birds above them lined up in columns and spreading their wings? The Most Gracious is the One who holds them in the air. He is Seer of all things.
27:57 Here God is talking about the law of aerodynamics.
28:00 We learn from the Khutba today, which is actually one of the, for those who missed the Khutba today,
28:10 the video program that will be shown starting tomorrow or next week, everywhere is
28:17 is a very good example of how a 20th century or 21st century human being can appreciate
28:26 the facts that have been expounded in a book written 1400 years ago.
28:33 All this detail about everything that only 50 to 100 years ago, some human beings started to learn
28:40 has been in the Quran for 1400 years.
28:43 And here we know that, first of all, the birds fly because God decided
28:51 them to fly using the shape of the wings and the body.
28:54 And this kind of shape and principle a human being start to learn and then
28:59 they copy it and they make aeroplanes, they make helicopters with the same principle.
29:03 In other words, how this 100 tons 747, for instance, can take off into the air.
29:10 Simply because the shape of the wing is such that when you move the object, there will be less
29:17 density of the air on top of the wing than below the wing. So, the whole thing will be lifted.
29:23 So, that's the same design that God has made for the birds' wing.
29:27 This is the principle of aerodynamics that is not considered well known, but yet all this has been around for millions of years.
29:40 [67:19] Have they not seen the birds above them lined up in columns and spreading their wings? ...
29:44 We know that the formation the birds fly, again this is also a principle from aerodynamics.
29:50 The birds, God teaches the birds to fly in a certain pattern because certain pattern will be the most efficient to reduce the drag.
29:58 We know that the drag is the biggest challenge for anything that moves in the air.
30:02 And this kind of formation is now actually being copied by, for instance, if you see Thunderbirds
30:09 F-16 from the Air Force. They always fly in a certain pattern because that pattern will reduce the drag that
30:17 each particular plane will experience.
30:22 Most of us probably know this principle when we drive in the interstate.
30:27 If you drive 70 miles per hour and there's 18 wheelers 70 miles per hour in front of us, we tend to follow them. Because
30:35 we're basically having a reduced drag by following them and we can consume... we can conserve more fuel by driving that way.
30:43 So, that's also a principle of aerodynamics and it's also mentioned in the Quran here.
30:51 Number 20.
30:52 [67:20] Where are those soldiers who can help you against the Most Gracious? Indeed, the disbelievers are deceived.
31:00 [67:21] Who is there to provide for you, if He withholds His provisions? Indeed, they have...
31:07 Hamid: God is here fully aware.
31:11 Dr. Khalifa: This was a battle in war and the believers put on the front.
31:17 They went in there and they were fighting as if they were fighting.
31:21 But God was doing everything.
31:23 Now read 57:22.
31:26 57:22
31:27 Hamid: Can I comment on this one?
31:28 Dr. Khalifa: Sure.
31:30 Hamid: It's very easy to become arrogant.
31:33 This is a symbolic book and it's telling to the, to the... (unintelligible).
31:41 Dr. Khalifa: In this book, this is what God says. God doesn't say that.
31:44 Hamid: I agree with you but you don't let me just to...
31:46 Dr. Khalifa: You're making a statement that contradicts what God said. Hamid: Didn't you make a statement?
31:50 Dr. Khalifa: You said "God... this is a symbolic book." It's not a symbolic book. God said "this is a perfect book." Hamid: Rashad, let me...
31:55 Hamid: It's a warning to humans. We are very complicated beings.
32:00 Hamid: If you make that big decision, the rest will be easy.
32:04 Dr. Khalifa: That's right. Hamid: It's not.
32:05 Dr. Khalifa: So, why don't you say what the Quran says?
32:07 Hamid: It is not. Dr. Khalifa: So, you don't believe God then?
32:09 Dr. Khalifa: You don't believe what God is saying. Hamid: I do believe God. Please don't put that things on me.
32:12 Hamid: I believe in God.
32:13 Dr. Khalifa: Well, you're saying things that God doesn't say. Hamid: Every time I come to (unintelligible), you say "then you don't believe." What...
32:17 Dr. Khalifa: You don't believe God. God is saying in 65. Hamid: I do believe, sir.
32:20 Hamid: I'm telling you I do believe. I'm not lying to you. Dr. Khalifa: You believe Sura 65.
32:23 Dr. Khalifa: that says if you believe in God, He makes things easy for you?
32:26 Dr. Khalifa: You believe that? Hamid: Of course, He does. I do it.
32:27 Hamid: I do things easy for me. I do things miserable for me. I have a capability.
32:32 I have a device.
32:34 Hamid: I have a last testament. Dr. Khalifa: You made a statement now that things will not go easy for you.
32:38 Hamid: Of course, I can make things miserable for myself.
32:42 Hamid: I have an ability. You are denying everything from me.
32:45 Hamid: And I'm telling you I am able... Dr. Khalifa: Well, that's arrogance. This is what arrogance is.
32:48 Hamid: No. No, no, no. That is not arrogance. That's ignorance. I'm not ignorant. Dr. Khalifa: Yes. You cannot do anything to yourself.
32:53 Hamid: I'm telling you I can be...
32:55 Hamid: See, you are very smart, very intelligent, more power to you.
32:58 Hamid: But don't tell me... Well, if you say...
33:02 Hamid: If you make that big decision between Satan and God, the rest of it is easy.
33:05 Dr. Khalifa: This is what God is saying. This is what God is saying, not me.
33:08 Hamid: I'm telling you the belief is a revolving door. Dr. Khalifa: Do you believe God or not?
33:11 Dr. Khalifa: Do you believe God? Ok. Hamid: It's a revolving door.
33:13 Dr. Khalifa: Do you believe God or not? Hamid: Yes, I do.
33:14 Dr. Khalifa: If you believe God, then you are wrong. Because God says if you make the decision to be with God, things will be easy for you.
33:20 And the rest will follow.
33:22 Hamid: You know why? You know why? Dr. Khalifa: I can show it to you in the Bible. I can show it to you in the Quran.
33:25 Hamid: Because as a concept, it's true.
33:27 Hamid: The concept is true. Dr. Khalifa: Ok.
33:29 Hamid: God is Almighty. Dr. Khalifa: Yes.
33:30 Hamid: As I was, as I was telling these gentleman, and this, Dr. Khalifa: Ok. Now, we're talking.
33:35 Hamid: When you...when... Let's take it one enterprise as an example.
33:40 Hamid: Let's take one enterprise. You go to one big company and you are hired.
33:44 Under circumstances, under particular circumstances, you are qualified for that job.
33:50 But if you don't fulfill that expectation, which I put it to you at the first, at the beginning,
33:57 you are fired, you are failed, and they very graciously will tell you "go somewhere else.
34:06 This is what we know what is expected from us.
34:10 God is not going to interfere. It's not fair.
34:13 He is not gonna interfere. If I pull a gun on you and say "I'm gonna kill you", He's not gonna interfere in that.
34:19 Hamid: If otherwise you pull a gun on me, He is not going to interfere. Dr. Khalifa: You're wrong. You're wrong. (unintelligible) What Mahmoud says? Mahmoud.
34:26 Mahmoud: Well, at least this argument is something that in the last (unintelligible).
34:34 But one thing that I wanna ask you is, one thing that you refer to, and that's the fact that
34:42 we know a lot of things about the Quran, about Islam, from hearing them, not
34:50 referencing them directly to the Quran.
34:53 What I'd like you to say is, whatever you're saying is the belief, to back it up with the Quranic verses.
35:01 Because we are, as you said, we are talking to someone who is intelligent, who is smart, and he knows Quran.
35:08 So, if you wanna argue, or you wanna prove your point, at least I as a listener here,
35:14 I wanna see your support, your reference.
35:16 If you say it on the basis of the things that you have heard, and you believe it,
35:24 without any reference to the Quran, then I have a hard time to believe it, to
35:29 understand what you say or accept it, as a third party listening to both of you.
35:34 No matter whether I believe what he's saying, or what you say is true.
35:37 If you wanna make the argument, and let it stay, at least make things clear for me,
35:43 or for other people who are sitting here, and things are not clear. I expect you...
35:49 Hamid: to back it up?
35:50 Mahmoud: back it up with verses. Hamid: I'm sorry, I can't do it.
35:52 Hamid: I cannot even get close to his knowledge, his Quranic knowledge.
35:56 But I am talking from common sense.
36:00 Dr. Khalifa: No, no. (unintelligible) Mahmoud: That's... that is why
36:03 Mahmoud: One more minute
36:04 Mahmoud: That is why I found out when I came in here. A lot of things that I thought was common sense,
36:09 because I'm someone who do science, I always tried to refer everything to some
36:14 very strong reference, and this is the Word of God.
36:18 So, if you believe in that, then we may have the common ground that this is the Word of God.
36:23 I do believe in God, as everybody else does, but the difference is interpretation.
36:28 And we have, as I've been and I do, a lot of bad things in the system, a lot of things that are hearsay,
36:35 a lot of things that we have learned has gone to our system,
36:39 and a lot of intellectual and radical interpretations, which is fine as social and economic issues.
36:46 That's fine, but if I can't back it up with Quranic verses then I'm not gonna get in my heart. At least...
36:54 Dr. Khalifa: The other side of the coin is, if I cannot back it up, and I see something in the Quran, I have to submit to it.
37:00 You see, we're assuming that all these people here believe that the Quran is the truth.
37:05 Once I show you something in the Quran, I expect you to say "this is what God says, I accept it."
37:10 So, if you read Sura 65, verses 3, 4, and 5, and 6, it tells you that if you believe in God, things will be easy for you.
37:18 God will provide for you whence you never expect.
37:21 If you read the Bible, it will tell you "seek God's Kingship over you, and everything else follows."
37:27 And there are many, many verses I can show you in the Quran, but if you follow common sense and logic, it doesn't work.
37:34 Robert?
37:34 Robert: We discuss this, because, like you said, it's hard, especially, I don't know, the way I grew up,
37:42 you learn, you always think you take responsibility for yourself and all these things,
37:47 but in terms of, you're talking about the one big decision, I had a problem with that, because I saw one big decision. Well,
37:54 how do you know when you make one big decision, that you choose this or that? Because lots of times,
37:59 you know, you say, "okay, yes, I believe in God", but a second later, you're doing something that is contrary to, you know, Quranic law, or something of that nature.
38:12 When you make a big decision, you're creating a covenant with God, and you have to uphold,
38:19 you know, when you choose God, you're choosing, you're not just saying
38:23 "well, okay, I choose God, everything else is gonna follow, because God is gonna control it, so then I don't have to get up and pray, I don't have to do nothing, because, you know, I choose God."
38:31 Robert: But when you choose God, you're choosing to be righteous. Hamid: Consequences.
38:34 Hamid: There is a consequence. Robert: It's a system. You're creating a covenant with God.
38:37 Robert: And all these things that the Quran says for you is to prove to yourself that God is controlling,
38:44 controlling everything, that you're on the path to God, like praying and all these things. These are things for us to prove to ourselves that we have made the right decision.
38:53 And that... Because God controls the people who choose to go the other direction, too.
38:59 He says "if you choose to go on Satan's path", He pushes you that way. He controls everything.
39:04 So, all these things, like studying, for example, which is totally irrelevant, well, God will provide for us to do certain things. He controls all matters.
39:16 And like what Gatut was saying earlier about studying and not having to
39:25 worry, he was saying strictly that "you don't have to worry when an exam comes",
39:29 not necessarily you don't have to prepare, because God will control that, God will prepare you.
39:35 You know, God will make sure that you get something done.
39:38 Like you said "God instills in you the desire to study", so that you are prepared. You don't have to worry about it.
39:45 God will provide for you. God controls all these things on the basis of your covenant with Him.
39:50 Hamid: Because it is the nature of human being. I was just saying, it's a peace of mind.
39:54 If you are worrisome and in disarray, you cannot achieve much.
39:58 You can go and stay in a library for hours and hours, but your mind is somewhere else.
40:04 But if you have that mind, that peace of mind, then you can achieve it.
40:08 Robert: God, God... Hamid: So, that is...
40:12 Hamid: I agree with you. He is Almighty. But He is not gonna interfere in daily basis.
40:17 Dr. Khalifa: Yes, yes Robert: He controls everything, everything. A man: Yes.
40:20 Dr. Khalifa: Even the words you are saying.
40:22 Dr. Khalifa: Ali. W. are running out of time.
40:28 Dr. Khalifa: Thank God He interferes. He does everything in this world.
40:32 Ali: When I was back in Iran, and my dad sat on the campus (unintelligible).
40:38 And I was always warned to believe in God and stuff like that. And at school, they made us pray. They made sure we prayed.
40:45 And I always went to it and sometimes, you know, I would just volunteer and try to lead it.
40:51 And there is a part of the Prayer in Iran where you put your hands up like this and you say some things about Ali or Muhammad.
40:59 I always forgot things. I could never remember.
41:03 Dr. Khalifa: Yeah.
41:05 Ali: I would always skip it. I would remember everything else, but I would skip that. I don't know why.
41:10 I would try to remember. I would tell myself, try to remember in the beginning, but I would just skip it. You know, unless somebody else was leading.
41:17 But I would go down and I would do the thing and if my friend was there or somebody, he would say it loudly, so I would do it.
41:23 But I always skipped it.
41:25 And I always...
41:26 Hamid: But if you forget it, there is no credit. But if you did it consciously, then there is some credit.
41:31 Dr. Khalifa: No,... A man: No, no, no.
41:33 Dr. Khalifa: God says it in the Quran. A man: No, no, you do it in your Prayers so many times.
41:36 Hamid: But God told him to forget it? Dr. Khalifa: Absolutely. A woman: Yes.
41:39 Dr. Khalifa: See, the words you are saying now.
41:41 Dr. Khalifa: It is not even funny. God is doing everything. It's not even funny.
41:44 Even the words you're uttering, the encounters you have every day.
41:48 Ali: Right and right now, I'm going... you know, right now, I mean, school and stuff, I am running for my class presidency.
41:58 Right now, there are a lot of people more popular than me and stuff.
42:01 I'm not worried because I know God is on my side, but it doesn't mean that I'm not gonna work hard.
42:06 I've been working hard. I'm trying to get posters out. I'm working really hard on my speech.
42:10 But if I know that God is on my side, I'm not worried.
42:13 I know that I can win if I work hard with Him on my side. But God will provide the stuff for me, the slogans, how the speech will come.
42:22 Dr. Khalifa: Mã Shã Allãh.
42:22 A woman: And how does... Dr. Khalifa: Douglas.
42:24 Dr. Khalifa: Douglas.
42:25 Douglas: One of the things we find in the Quran is God says "those who believe and work righteousness." And that's the sequence.
42:35 You cannot work righteousness unless you believe.
42:38 A person can think they believe.
42:41 The Quran says "have you not seen those who follow their own opinions?"
42:45 The Quran speaks of human beings who think they have guidance, who think they have knowledge, when in fact they don't.
42:52 And all of us have at one time or another felt we know something or we know what to do in a situation.
42:58 That sequence throughout the Quran "those who believe and work righteousness",
43:04 one of the things that it points out is that it is Allah's will, it is God's will that we work the righteousness,
43:12 that He guides us to work the righteousness.
43:15 We cannot do it on our own.
43:18 So, to use the example of studying for the exam, a person who truly believes knows what God says in the Quran,
43:26 that you must be responsible for your own actions in that sense and they will take that step.
43:34 So, that sequence is very crucial, "those who believe and work righteousness."
43:39 Dr. Khalifa: Chester.
43:40 Jester: Also in the Quran, it says that God tests you daily and every time that you say something, you can make things go miserable for you.
43:48 Isn't that also a test, you know? And when you're miserable, isn't that kind of a failed test?
43:53 Because you would be happy if you didn't and if you listen, you believe in God because He makes things easier.
43:58 I mean, God will give me (unintelligible), he just gave me a job today by having a (unintelligible).
44:03 I've just been accepting things as they come along lately and things have become a lot easier.
44:08 I've argued things and already I've been arguing with God, (unintelligible).
44:16 Dr. Khalifa: Fantastic, Jester. Mã Shã Allãh.
44:19 Hamid: I agree basically with what they say.
44:23 Hamid: There are some rapes. There are some child abuse. God is not going to interfere.
44:29 Hamid: The guy who abuses, the guy who misleads, the guy who represents himself... Dr. Khalifa: (unintelligible).
44:35 Dr. Khalifa: Something is missing here. Hamid: had to, has to...
44:38 Dr. Khalifa: The rapes, the rapes and ones who does all this are in Satan's world, not in God's world. Hamid: The last... The last revelation is here
44:44 Hamid: and it says you have to pay the consequences.
44:46 Hamid: It's here. He's not gonna come down or whatever, the jinn or whatever, is not gonna come and
44:54 hold my hand and say "hey, not to steal things."
44:58 I'm going to steal it if I decide, if I choose to be a thief, then I have to pay the price.
45:04 Dr. Khalifa: You're making a decision to break God's law. You're making a decision to be in Satan's kingdom. Hamid: That's exactly what I'm saying.
45:09 Hamid: I'm saying if the speaker is bad, I have to either hire someone to fix it in advance
45:14 Hamid: because I have it up here, I know it's not working. Dr. Khalifa: No, no, no, angels... No.
45:18 Dr. Khalifa: God will send His angels to fix your stomach or your heart or your car or your speakers.
45:23 Hamid: And the wife. Dr. Khalifa: Yes.
45:25 Hussein: I have a question about verse 20, Gatut please.
45:28 Going back to verse 20 of Sura 67, page 563. It's about the invisible soldier that you mentioned
45:42 the jinns or the angels, when the people were fighting the believers,
45:50 or the disbelievers were fighting the believers, even when the number of believers,
45:56 maybe, you know, ten, hundred times higher than the soldiers, the disbelievers were mostly (unintelligible).
46:06 Dr. Khalifa: The believers always win. The believers always win.
46:07 Hussein: Yeah, that's right. The believers always win. Dr. Khalifa: Yep.
46:10 Hussein: And you mentioned about the invisible soldiers.
46:13 Does this mean that we do not see the invisible soldiers and they do not exist physically
46:20 or do they take the gun and they shoot?
46:24 Or this invisible soldier, what God meant was, again, that sacrifice, determination, hard fighting, not be afraid of anything, just in the front line?
46:36 Dr. Khalifa: No, Hussein, they are mentioned in the Quran several times. Invisible soldiers means soldiers you cannot see.
46:41 They are right in this room, but you cannot see them.
46:43 Hussein: But how do they fight? Dr. Khalifa: They are very physical.
46:45 Because they can carry this mosque and turn it upside down. How physical can you get?
46:50 Hamid: They have never done it anywhere in the whole universe.
46:53 Dr. Khalifa: They didn't do it to us.
46:54 Hamid: You are putting a question, God can destroy this, but has He ever done it? Dr. Khalifa: Sodom and Gomorrah.
46:57 Dr. Khalifa: Of course. Sodom and Gomorrah.
46:59 Hamid: Not after the last revelation, because He just said, this is it. Dr. Khalifa: It's in the Quran. Hamid, Hamid, Hamid
47:03 Dr. Khalifa: Read my lips. Read my lips. The angels turned Sodom upside down, the city.
47:06 Hamid: Yeah, did I just tell you after the Prophet Muhammad, he said "this is it"?
47:10 Now you have everything in your hand?
47:13 Hamid: Before that, people asked Dr. Khalifa: I don't understand.
47:15 Prophets "we want some proof", like a miracle. And Moses threw his Dr. Khalifa: Yes.
47:20 Hamid: stick and became a whatever, and open... Dr. Khalifa: Yes.
47:23 Hamid: because people were not sophisticated, they were not at a higher echelon.
47:27 Hamid: Now, we are, we are in an enlightenment era. Dr. Khalifa: We never (unintelligible) right now.
47:33 Dr. Khalifa: Yes.
47:33 Hamid: The whole... Dr. Khalifa: So, what is your point?
47:35 Hamid: If you're not getting it, I'm sorry. I'm saying this is it.
47:39 Dr. Khalifa: If that's what you're saying, you're not following it. Hamid: He said "the consequences...
47:41 Hamid: (unintelligible) if you make that big decision, God will come and turn the TV for me, if I say "well, listen, my legs are broken." Dr. Khalifa: You don't believe it.
47:49 Hamid: And this guy says "well, go and get a (unintelligible)... Dr. Khalifa: (unintelligible)
47:51 Dr. Khalifa: If you believe in God, (unintelligible) Hamid: I do believe in God, sir.
47:55 (unintelligible)
47:56 Hamid: But I also believe in my intelligence.
48:01 Gatut: See, the Quran says, the Quran says that we have to kill our ego, because that is usually the last idol. Dr. Khalifa: Our teacher... Go ahead.
48:08 Hamid: What that has to do with the price of tea in China?
48:11 Gatut: I am saying that. Hamid: I'm talking about my...
48:14 Hamid: Did I talk... I said "please believe in yourself, God will guide you." Gatut: No.
48:19 Gatut: Believe in God, not believe in yourself. You believe in God.
48:21 Hamid: Your ability to, God put it in you, you supposedly... Dr. Khalifa: (unintelligible)
48:27 Gatut: See, Moses was commanded by God to tell his people to kill their ego, because the ego is the last idol.
48:33 We can say we believe in God. Millions of people who believe in God will not make it.
48:38 Because they still have something hanging, the stumbling block, and the last stumbling block is the ego.
48:43 Gatut: If we cannot accept the word of God as it says in the Quran, .... Hamid: Everything you do consciously, it will count,
48:47 Hamid: good or bad, it will count against, for you or against you.
48:51 Hamid: It will credit it in you and nothing to your neighbor, not your brother or father.
48:55 Hamid: It's your own account.
48:56 Hamid: But, if you don't do it unconsciously, there is no credit.
49:00 Hamid: If I Pray, if I'm a good Muslim, because my father told me so, there is no credit for me.
49:06 But if I come to the senses that there is such a religion and tells you this, and...
49:12 and I come to the decision, and got to the point, then there is some credit at the end of the line.
49:19 Hamid: But you have to make a decision, it's a revolving door. It's a revolving door.
49:24 Robert: In the Quran, God says "He misguides those who He pleases and guides those who He pleases.
49:30 So, then on the consequence of what you just said, your own common sense, if God guides who He pleases
49:36 and misguides who He pleases, that's in the Quran.
49:39 Hamid: Right.
49:40 Robert: Is that correct? Hamid: That's absolutely correct. Robert: So,...
49:43 Hamid: Not in daily basis... Robert: So then, you can throw conscious and common sense right out the window, in a sense.
49:48 Robert: Now, except the fact that everything in the Quran and everything does make sense. That's how God has made it for us.
49:58 The whole fact that we don't believe that God had His only begotten son and sent Him onto this earth, all these
50:04 things that don't make sense, three people in one, and all this
50:08 other stuff, that we just believe in God alone. That's all part of common sense.
50:12 The fact that there are no contradictions in the Quran with science, that it is a perfect book.
50:18 I mean, this is all part of common sense.
50:20 But when you're talking about, like, one big decision, it's whole bunches of decisions, little decisions,
50:25 which constitute one big decision, whether you believe in God or not. That's what I was talking about "the covenant", with your covenant with God.
50:32 Like when you're talking about praying or not praying, that's a decision whether you're choosing God or Satan. That's all part of that one big decision.
50:39 So, it comes up time and time and time again.
50:42 But that's the only thing that matters.
50:43 Whether you tell your employees "look, here, this has to be done in one month or not", and
50:50 they get kicked out, I mean, that doesn't make any difference.
50:52 Hamid: See, God is fair and just. Robert: He controls all that.
50:54 Hamid: If you are fool enough to go on the roof and then fall down, He's not gonna do anything. He's not gonna interfere.
51:02 Hamid: If I survive, if I survive, if I survive, if I survive the accident, there is some explanations, physical explanations.
51:11 Hamid: It's not that God's test.
51:14 Robert: There is no need to test God. You shouldn't test...
51:17 like in the Bible, I don't know if this is in the Quran, but there is a verse where Jesus is on
51:24 on the top of the mountain and the devil says "well, if you're truly
51:28 "a messenger of God, well, then cast yourself down upon these rocks, because it says that His angels will save you."
51:33 Robert: And Jesus says "This is not the Word of God." Dr. Khalifa: You don't need to test God. Yes.
51:38 Robert: So, so, it's all part of being righteous. Dr. Khalifa: Our teacher, next week, is Douglas.
51:41 Dr. Khalifa: Douglas Brown.
51:44 Dr. Khalifa: We're gonna read Al-Fãtehah for Ali, who help him with his school and some things.
51:50 He requested Al-Fãtehah for... and lucky Farhad Moini, who gets his birthday in the middle of the week, so we're giving them two Fãtehahs
52:01 So, we're gonna pray to God again to give him and his family a great year coming up and happy years after that.
52:06 Al-Fãtehah
52:08 Bism Allah Arrahman Arraheem (1:1) Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil ‘Alameen (1:2) Arrahman Arraheem (1:3) Maliki Yawm Eddeen (1:4) Eyyaka Na’abudu Wa Eyyaka Nasta’aeen (1:5) Ehdina Al-Serata Al-Mustaqeem (1:6) Serata Al-Lazeena An’amta ‘Alayhim Ghayri Al-Maghdoobi ‘Alayhim Wa Laddaalleen (1:7)
52:24 Congratulations.
52:27 Sura 68, next week, IN SHAA ALLAH.