 Salaw alaykum dearest respective viewers, and welcome to Live in London on this auspicious occasion of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa aleh, the founder of Islam, the grandfather of the Ahlul Bayt, and the man that brought moral and ethical values to the whole of mankind. Millions of us will be celebrating his birthday in our centres, in our homes, and we would like to join you and pass on our congratulations to you and your families on this auspicious occasion and especially to the Imam of our time, Imam bin Zaman may Allah hasten his reappearance. But who was Allah sallallahu alayhi wa aleh, even though he is known throughout the whole world as a man that changed and impacted humanity? We know so much about his life as a prophet, but what about beforehand? What was his early life like, his childhood? Who were his parents? And even when his mission started, what sort of obstacles came in his pathway? Who helped him and aided him? Who were his enemies? What was his main mission and what did he want to give mankind that he was remembered for eternity? We'll be discussing this and a lot more with Sayyid Dr. Aman al-Shawani, Sayyid Dr. Salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. How have you been? How are your travels? Very well, very well, thanks. Congratulations to everybody on this blessed week, the week of the birth of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon his family, and of course we must not forget the week of the birth of Imam Al-Sadaq, which inshallah we'll discuss tomorrow. If you'd like to call in with a question for the doctor, please call us on 0203-515-0199, or alternatively you could text us or WhatsApp us on the number provided below the screen. Also tomorrow there will be a show at 9 p.m. to commemorate and celebrate the birth of Imam Al-Sadaq, peace be upon him. Dr. Salamu alaykum. How have you been? How has your travels been? Alhamdulillah, very well. Mashallah. So people say a lot about Rasulullah, and they'll say that we should commemorate, we shouldn't commemorate. There's a split of opinion here from your research and your opinions. What do you think about such a topic? Well, you do find that recently in the Muslim world this has emerged, this really was not a non-issue for over a thousand years when it came to the Maulid of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, wherever you'd go in the world you'd find that that would be a week of celebration. And irrespective of whether you came from a Shia or a Sunni background, you are raised honoring the week of his birth, honoring the day of his birth, and the honoring of course has different methods. Naturally you find that there would be some who would honor the day of the birth of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon his family out of recognition that it's a day in which God's blessings were sent upon mankind. In the Quran there are certain days that are called the days of Allah. If you look within the Holy Quran it's mentioned even the story of Moses, remember the days of Allah, remind them of the days of Allah. These days of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala days in which there was immense blessings which were sent down on the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. So with these days, days of remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his blessings, you find that the greatest blessings for every Muslim is the day of the birth of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. If you went to the Ottoman Empire or the Seljuk Empire or the Safarid Empire or the Boyed Empire or the Fatimid Empire irrespective of whether they have inclinations to Shia, Sunni, Sufi, Ash-Ari, whatever their inclinations, the Maulid was a joyous occasion. Now you found that it was only in the last 150-200 years that suddenly with the writings of the likes of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab that there were people who began to doubt whether this would be a day of celebration. So be it in the opinion of some that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his family was born on the 12th of Rabi Al Awal or in the opinion of others that he was born on the 17th of Rabi Al Awal, everybody in one way or the other would gather at each other's houses, do their dhikr of the Holy Prophet's name and the name of his family, constant salawat on Muhammad and Ahlul Muhammad, exchange gifts with one another. And it's interesting how that movement of Abdul Wahab which he felt was a reformist movement is a movement that now has permeated into certain circles who constantly talk about the fact that the birth of the Holy Prophet and celebration of it, they call it a bid'ah. They say that the celebration of the birth of the Holy Prophet peace be upon him is a bid'ah. Why? Because they say the Prophet himself did not celebrate his own birth. If you want to open the door of bid'ah, you want to open the door of innovations, I'm surprised by those who want to open that door because if you want to open that door, there are many innovations that came from people who lived after the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family. On areas which were either prohibited by the Prophet they allowed or areas which were allowed by the Prophet they prohibited. And if they innovated something, what was interesting is normally when you hear innovation, you would think innovation in religion, how could someone go against the Nus, the Prophet peace be upon his family seen as speaking on behalf of Allah SWT, you can't prohibit that which he has allowed or allowed that which is prohibited, but you have numerous occasions in which personalities who lived after the Prophet peace be upon his family started to introduce innovations and they called them bid'ah hasana for example, a good innovation. So when someone now wants to open that can of worms, you're now going into an arena in which we can pick out a lot of innovations. For us we recognize that the day of a birth of a Prophet of God is either mentioned by Allah as a day of blessing or the Prophet mentions it as a day of blessing. Let me give you an example in the Quran. John the Baptist and Prophet Jesus peace be upon him, so Prophet Yahya and Prophet Isa peace be upon him, they're both mentioned within the Holy Quran. If you notice with one of them Allah SWT says peace be upon him the day he was born with another of them he mentions himself by saying peace be upon me the day I was born. If the day of the birth of somebody is not a day for us to celebrate then why would two Prophets of Allah SWT have the mention of the day of their Mawlid because the word Wulida or Wulid Tu is mentioned with both. If it's not a day of celebration for us why would two Prophets of God say peace be upon me the day I was born or Allah say peace be upon the day he was born. So when it comes to the celebration of the birth of the Prophet Sunni and Shia did not have an issue with this for over a thousand years rather it's the Wahhabi Salafi movement that is the one that that's one that doesn't mind destroying the heritage of the life of the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family in terms of where he lived in terms of where his grandchildren are buried they don't mind destroying all of these things what's left with the Mawlid then by Alhamdulillah until today there are millions who remember the birth of the Prophet peace be upon his family. If you look for example in Sudan for example your whatsapp if you look for example in Egypt for example if you look for example Iraq you look for example in Iran Lebanon Bahrain you have millions who come together in Rabi Al Awal to remember the greatest personality to have ever lived on the face of this earth so Alhamdulillah it will never be stopped and the Quran also there are occasions where you find within the holy Quran Allah talking for example in chapter 7 verse 157 as for those who believe in the holy prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and his family and then the Quran mentions and those who honor him those who believe in him those who honor him those who help his message yes and those who follow the light that came with him these are the successful ones so you find when the Quran tells us those who believe in the Prophet Muhammad is not enough you can honor him there are many ways in which you can honor the holy Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and his family of the ways in which you can honor him is by having a lecture on the day of his birth as in what does our community do in the 17th Rabi Al Awal when they say to us that you people are the people of Bida you're the people of Bida for example this is what we hear all the time when we hear all the time that we are the people of Bida I reply by saying what are we doing in our mosques that's a Bida on the 17th Rabi Al Awal we are trying to listen to a lecture on the Sunnah of the holy prophet peace be upon his family exactly on the Quran on the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt al-Alaym As-Salaam where in that there's been the Quran and the Hadith all tell us about the importance of seeking knowledge 17th Rabi Al Awal 18th Rabi Al Awal 27th Rabi Al Awal whether it's Muharram whether it's Safar every day is the day in which you should seek knowledge but because that day is the day in which we remember his birth that person who comes to our our community and says you Shi'a or goes towards the Sunni community and says you people who are celebrating the Moli this is all a Bida or a Bida so I said no we're sitting there we'll listen to a lecture on the prophet peace be upon his family and tomorrow we can listen and the day after we can listen but because on this day we remember it's one of the days of Allah ayyam Allah has not something to be looked at nonchalantly the days of Allah days in which God sent his blessings upon mankind yeah said I've got loads of questions I'm really excited because obviously Prophet Muhammad SAW is a character to all of us sure but I'm sure there's a lot that you want to discuss as well so is there anything before we kick off with my questions that you like to talk about no I say I say something of the utmost importance and that is that many times the Shi'a are accused or are told that you don't respect the prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family as you do others or you don't mention him enough or that you mentioned for example Ali and Hussain more than you mentioned him yes and we reply by saying first and foremost nobody in the Muslim world honors the birth and the death of the prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family like the school of Ahlul Bayt nobody even if there are Muslims today who are remembering the Moli of the prophet they won't remember the day he dies and suffer we have lectures on the day of his birth the day of his death those who for example say to us you don't have lectures on his life yes I myself for example have the biography of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family and I haven't even finished it and I've done 27 lectures there are others in order to enforce you have done up to 200 lectures on his life you find at the same time no congregation in the world when they hear the name Muhammad will all in one voice say Allahumma salli ala Muhammad loudly like us but if someone wants to say to us you mentioned Imam Ali for example a lot to us Imam Ali whatever he narrates is the best part of understanding the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family if other schools in Islam for example say Abu Huraira narrates Aisha narrates Anas narrates they mention always Anas Abu Hurair Abdullah bin Omar Aisha I could easily turn around and say hold on you mentioned them more than the prophet they say no we're narrating what they said from the prophet likewise yes if I mention Imam Ali I'm simply narrating what Imam Ali is telling me of what happened in the life of the Holy Prophet peace be upon him and his family then you were talking about narrations and and the history the Prophet's birth was ever foretold before and was ever prophesized I mean was there any indication that there was to be a coming of you know the final prophet the greatest prophet of all well if you look within look within the Holy Quran in chapter 61 verse number six you find that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks to us about Prophet Jesus alayhi salam and when he speaks to us about Prophet Jesus alayhi salam he mentions how Prophet Jesus talks of Ahmed who is to come after him and so this gives us the indication that Christ had spoken about a figure who would come after him who would be seen as the spirit of truth and that's why it's no surprise for any of us when we hear that in the Bible there would be the mentioning of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family as some may argue that you know what that's not the spirit of truth they some refer to him as for example saying that that is the Holy Spirit who he's referring to but we know one of the titles of the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family is al-sadaq yes yes when we call him al-sadaq what do we mean when we say al-sadaq the truthful one so if Jesus within the chapter of John for example mentions that after me will come the spirit of truth Muslims are not surprised because in Torah 61 verse 6 Prophet Jesus mentions that after me will come Ahmed sometimes in the Quran Allah refers to the Prophet as Ahmed as it's mentioned here Christ mentions that in the same way the Torah spoke about me I tell you of Ahmed and sometimes Allah refers to him as Muhammad peace be upon him sometimes Allah refers to him as Taha sometimes Yasin muzzamil mudathar and so on so you find that that mention is there now whether someone can find that mention in the Bible today it's not necessarily so clear so we had the you know the foretelling of the Prophet coming down and him being born and then also what about a bit more on his family his parents his tribe I mean were they preparing for him and who were they who were his parents who were the Bani Hashim at that time in Mecca yeah well his family are seen as the as having one of the most important positions first and foremost they are the descendants of Abraham many non-Muslims do not know that the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him his family is a descendant of Prophet Ibrahim alaihi salam they think that the Prophet Muhammad for examples this random Arab and Abraham's lineage is one which is blessed by God in the Bible there isn't just the praise of Isaac's lineage there's the praise of the 12th princess from the line of Ishmael and so the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family is related to Prophet Ibrahim alaihi salam through Ishmael and his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib is known as the custodian of the Kaaba the Kaaba the black cube shape monument that many Muslims and non-Muslims will look at yes in Mecca the one who protected it was given the highest of respect and the Arabs used to respect the house of God although tainted it with idols and idol worship with the main idols being for example are all manifestations one may say of God's attributes we say polytheism is not that you just believe in more than one God it's also putting images to one God you know because sometimes someone says there is a group of people who should be seen as being monotheist why because they say that they believe in one God okay yes they believe in one God but if they put images to God then they are classified as polytheist now when you're looking at Mecca at the time his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib respected by all and as part of a group who are known as the Hanifs the Hanifs literally is translated as the upright those who are following the monotheism of Abraham they have not gone to idol worship I would rather say a better translation of Hanif is those who stand up against the tide or those who are not affected by the peer pressure of the time you see sometimes a person may be affected by peer pressure in their time and what that means is everybody worships something you follow you don't think for yourself how can I bow down to something I can create something I could smash with an axe something I can kick no if everybody's doing it I do it you ask them why do you do it say is that for example it's a culture for me no no is it a religion or a culture no it's a culture something that I cannot leave because my parents will be unhappy religion is not something which I follow because mom and dad are happy if I follow it religion should be something that I'm following because I believe that it answers cosmological metaphysical psychological and ethical issues that I have I as a human being come across cosmological or metaphysical dilemmas and I want an answer some may find their answer only in science some may find their answer in faith some may find a wonderful combination of the two and what you therefore have is that abdul muttallib alayhi salam descendant of Abraham grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family and a few others are known as the Hanifs they are not tainted by the idol worshiping meccans and so the famous story in the Quran where God reminds the Arabs that remember the favors I bestowed upon you when the Prophet Muhammad first denies his mission that some of them are are causing distress to him are rude to him are arrogant towards him yes and God reminds them I'll have to take a fa fa ala rabbu ka bi ashaab in faith have you not seen what your lord did to the people or the companions of the elephant because abdul muttallib grandfather Muhammad peace be upon his family with a class and a calmness approaches Abraham who wants to destroy the Kaaba with Abraham saying what's your demands he says just return my flock back to me he says to him wait I'm going to destroy your god's house that's all you're concerned about he goes yes I protect them that house has got its protector he'll look after you and that therefore is the grandfather a man of unbelievable faith in his lord a man not touched by idol worship his father the Prophet Muhammad's father Abdullah his mother Amina are of the Hanifs polytheism does not affect his parents whatsoever the Shia school is clear Amina mother of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family born pure lived pure died pure resurrected in the highest of heavens Abdullah father of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family born pure lived pure died pure resurrected in the highest of the heavens none of this believe that my parents are in hell I'll pray for them or I'll look after them I'll intercede for no no no no the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family's parents are pure believers in one god never polytheism has touched them sometimes you read in the Ziyara of Imam al Hussain peace be upon him a famous line which we've all recited I showed you that you were a light in the dark and the pure and the pure it's very clear within that Ziyara that we are of the belief in the pure line ignorance polytheism impurities have not touched that purest of lineages I'm not going to say the offshoots of that lineage are not going to be affected his uncle Abu Lahab is of those who was affected but in terms of his parents and it's not an easy beginning for the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family you know people may imagine those who have not read anything about his biography that this man is brought up in the lap of luxury on the contrary you know his his dad passes away while his mom's pregnant and his mom passes away a few years into his life and he's raised by his grandfather and then by his uncle Abu Talib who has a monumental effect on his life could you talk a little bit more about the death I mean how old were they and how do you think this would have impacted Rasulullah I mean we know that he had a very soft spot for the orphans yes do you think do you think this is why because he grew up as a I think it's a great question and the Quran mentions that we not find you an orphan and we sheltered you old Muhammad true true in surah al-dhuha Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us of our responsibilities islamically towards the orphans in this world because our Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family was born an orphan yes I'll tell you what when your mom dies and your dad dies the biggest blessing you can have is having a dad like figure in Abu Talib and a mother like figure in Fatima bint Assad believe you me Abu Talib and Fatima bint Assad the way the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family talks about them my backbone my pillar of strength she was like a mom to me in tears when Fatima bint Assad dies because he knows Fatima bint Assad has four sons Talib Ateel Jaafar and Ali son of Abu Talib but the way she looks after the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family is unique so when you've lost your parents it's as if God says to you don't worry I know you're being tested but just look at the type of people I'm gonna give you who'll shelter you who'll care for you who'll be compassionate towards you who'll be a source of love towards you and the shame is that many Muslims in the world today have no idea on the impact of someone like Fatima bint Assad on the life of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family this lady is one of the ladies of heaven and sadly there are Muslims in the world today who believe Abu Talib his uncle died as a disbeliever unfortunately believe you me you can go around the Muslim world today ask them about Abu Talib they won't have a bad word to say about him but Muslims in many cases don't use this unfortunately not no oh there is a hadith that says that the Abu Talib burns at the bottom of hell so okay that's it that's all I need to know okay tell me what in his life dictated to you that such a narration is plausible and is one to actually believe in but I'm not surprised Omayyid and Abbasid pens what they do especially Abbasid pens yes and the hatred they had against the sons of Abu Talib and the lineage of Abu Talib but those two had an influence on his life that I'm not surprised when they die how much grief he displays yep that's it that's it talking more on the Prophet's life I mean most Muslims would have studied the actual prophethood which started 40 years old and after I mean we unfortunately don't discuss much about pre-40 his teenage life him as a young adult his employment or you know his habits or things like that would you like to discuss a little bit on that well first and foremost what's wonderful about him before he announces any prophethood or discusses any revelation is that he has two titles sadaq and amin the truthful and the trustworthy there is nobody in the whole of Mecca in the first 40 years of the Prophet Muhammad's life who could point at a black spot or a black dot in the whole of his life you know and that is something amazing any human being can look at another human being and pinpoint a moment in their youth or in their teenage years where they could turn around and say well that wasn't the most pleasant of behaviors that was rude that's uncharacteristic and so on but what's amazing is that in his early years people wouldn't even call him Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam nor would people call him Ahmad people would come towards him sadaq there's the sadaq there's the amin and it really gives you an understanding of what defines a muslim not their prayers and their fasts but their trustworthiness and their truthfulness so you see in his youth there's the truthfulness the trustworthiness there's a level of maturity which i think travel brings i've always found the most narrow-minded humans on this earth are the ones who don't travel much and i won't say this is a case for everyone that i've met but a lot of people i've met who've hardly traveled very narrow-minded approach sometimes in Silla even on the verge of arrogance or ignorance on some cases i think travel plays a monumental role in his life his uncle about alib takes him traveling a young age to meet others to get to know others i think he doesn't just learn about god through his own prism and lens but rather looks at god even by meeting the odd monk here the odd priest here the odd polytheist here i think if you if you meet people of different faiths and different backgrounds in your life it brings a lot more thought and reflection his wife say the khadija aleyhi salam says in the reports i used to receive about him when he psb opponents family would be on a journey there'd be many a time he'd go and meditate he'd go and sit and reflect many of us the importance of meditation is not really there in many of our discussions you don't find many who discuss the importance of taking time out whereas he himself the prophet Muhammad psb would constantly say an hour of reflection is greater than 70 years of worship there are many muslims who live lives very strict legal lives very strict lives of ritual but little reflection and so in his youth he travels in his youth he meets people of different faiths in his youth if he sees that somebody has been oppressed he then is part of that league of justice known as hellful fozul a group of meccans who come together to speak out for the rights of people in their business transactions and to avoid people having that feeling of being scammed when they used to come to mecca in his youth he gets married in his mid 20s and he gets married to this immaculate personality you know khadija is his best wife khadija is his greatest wife khadija is on a class which is different to anybody in her time or after her time in terms of the impact and in terms of the closeness she has with the prophet Muhammad psb one's family never does she hurt his family never does she go at war with his family never does she raise her voice against him never does she spy on him never does she call his breath a breath which doesn't smell nice never does she bring him a headache because of her erratic behavior in the community i'm not surprised when they say foreman of jannah khadija phatima mariam asya they're a class above and he marries this lady and she has a monumental impact on his life as well as being a backbone for him and i would say front bone as well you know many times we say this person's a great backbone yes but if one can use a term like front bone you know has to say he's backbiting someone front bites you sometimes slandering slandering some people are a backbone some know our front bone meaning that she's willing to stand up with him in front of him especially in the early years of his prophethood and she of course gives him phatima there is viewers we're going to take a short break now but please join us back after the break for a lengthy discussion on the birth of the prophet psb and we will be joined by a special guest as well so please stay tuned and we'll see you after the break salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh salam wa alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh dearest respective viewers are welcome back to live in london on this auspicious occasion of the prophet's birthday salallahu alayhi wa aleh if you'd like to call in and you have a question for say damal please call us on 0203 5150199 or alternatively you can use the whatsapp number provided at the bottom of the screen and you can send your questions there say it we will discuss in the prophet's early life and you know way who's going through and then the obstacles and how he was as a character it was very difficult for someone of that character to keep to be so truthful and to be so trustworthy in the time where arabia was known as the time of jaheliah can you discuss some of the practices of jaheliah at that time and what the climate was like for sure that period of jaheliah is normally known as the the period of ignorance and a period of ignorance can affect the society at any stage it's not just one period of jaheliah there could be a period of jaheliah in arabia there's a period of jaheliah in the world today there's a period of jaheliah everywhere in the world so we can't just limit jaheliah to arabia even the quran mentions the jaheliah to lula the first jaheliah aslam asks why does god say jaheliah to lula the first say there's going to be a second there's going to be a third there's going to be other periods of ignorance and there were some unbelievably ignorant individuals within that society and ignorance can be can be looked at in two ways the students of mantaq logic at the hausa will tell you that when we look at jaheli ignorance there is jaheliah and there is jaheliah there is an ignorance which is compound and an ignorance which is basic the ignorance which is compound is a lot harder to eradicate you see i may have a basic ignorance my basic ignorance for example is if you were to ask me questions now about um life in singapore i'm ignorant of that i don't know i'd love to find out how life is there or life for example in romania i don't know that's basic ignorance when for example there is an area of knowledge it's not your expertise you don't have much information on it but you'd love to learn more compound ignorance is that person it's very difficult for them to admit they're ignorant i see they go with the flow of the ignorance of their time and don't see any issue with that ignorance imam alibna mital alaihi salam says there are four types of people there are those who know and know that they know yes there are those who know but don't know that they know there are those who don't know and know that they don't know and then there are those who don't know and don't know that they don't know did you get that or no they're the dangerous cameraman can you repeat that okay what's imam alia alaihi salam saying there are those who know and know that they know there are those who know but don't know that they know there are those who don't know and know that they don't know yes okay they don't know but they know then there are those who don't know and don't know that they don't know yes and that arrogance had permeated within the society of the time that you had people who were normal in seeing, for example, a baby being buried alive. Quran mentions that of the most barbaric acts these ignorant Arabs used to undertake was burying their daughters alive. Quran mentions the female baby will ask on the day of judgment for what reason was I killed? Why was I buried alive? The Arabs would find an embarrassment in having a daughter born to them. And I wish that was the only period of ignorance until today in some of our societies. If, for example, someone, let's say she gives birth to a girl, she gives birth to that girl, you'll find that there'll be some members of the family saying, when you're going to have a boy, okay, gives birth to a second girl. When you're going to have a boy, it gives birth to a third girl. When you're going to have a boy, as if the birth of that daughter is a form of sadness for them. And the most ignorant society, no doubt, is that society which looks at a blessing of God like a baby and wants to not just show unhappiness. Quran mentions, When one of them is given news of the birth of a female, their face is darkened with anger and there's a sense of grief. And they'd find it normal to bury their daughters alive. Likewise, you'd find, for example, other acts of ignorance circumambulating the Kaaba naked. You'd find intoxication being a norm for many of them. To the extent that the Quran has to mention to some of these personalities who become Muslim, that all you who believe don't approach Salah while you're in a state of intoxication. You look at any society, intoxicants being a norm, murder, tribal fights with one another, feuds that last for years, blood becoming normal to shed. So the problem, Mohammed grows up in this, but he also highlights something to us. Don't blame your environment for why you're not religious. We live in London. I guarantee you there are people in London of the Muslim community who are more religious than their cousins back in Muslim countries. I guarantee you that there are people in London, in America, in Canada, in Australia who are more knowledgeable than some of their cousins back in the Middle East, for example. I guarantee you there are people who are living in the West whose faith is stronger than some of their family members who are living in the religious majority, for example, Muslim countries. Why? Because our Prophet Mohammed peace be upon his family made it clear to us environment is not an excuse for your lack of religiosity. Don't say I'm not religious because I live in a non-religious country. Because if anybody could have been affected by his peers, by his environments, him, let's say he's a special human being, let's say. You find, for example, Othman bin Mavoon. You find, for example, Jaafar, son of Abu Talib. Personalities like that lived in a time of alcohol, never drunk, lived in a time of shirk, never committed polytheism, never lied, never committed adultery. Could have easily been affected by the peer pressures of their time. But I mentioned Othman bin Mavoon and Jaafar, son of Abu Talib, because Imam Ali, peace be upon him, and Imam Al-Baqir, both specifically point these two out as personalities who were living in the most ignorant period but were not affected by what's around them. There's a message to all of us that society may lead you into a direction where you have to act certain acts to be cool. There are certain people who listen to some obscenities in the world of music, because they have to keep up with their classmates, because if they're not listening to those musicians, they're seen as being not cool. There are some who take drugs to be part of a cool group. There are some who drink alcohol to be part of a cool group. But the Hanifs, your Abd al-Mu'talib, your Abu Talib, your Fatima bin Asad, your Sayyid al-Khadeegah, your Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, your Imam Ali, these were agrobials who stood up against the tide of their time. And that's a lesson for us all. You were mentioning about burying the daughters. I mean, I thought Arabs were known to have more than one wives. A lot would even say that the Prophet had many, many wives. What was the tradition behind this? And those who actually point fingers at Rasulullah saying that one woman couldn't satisfy him or claiming certain things that they shouldn't towards Rasulullah, what was the reason behind such marriages? Well, I think firstly we have to make clear not every single girl that was born was killed. But part of the sign of ignorance is when the death of one girl doesn't bring any sadness into you. You know where there's one girl or two girls, a thousand girls. You kill one human being as if you've killed the whole of humanity. So you have the Arabs killing their daughters because A, they don't believe they'll help them in any war. B, not help in business. C, she might end up running away with someone of a tribe they hate. It's absurd, but some would do that. Because remember, when you're living by Bedouin tribal law, you don't have any care anymore. It's the tribal law that's more important to you. In the Quran, God talks of the Bedouin tribal leaders and their ignorance. He mentions the Arab, not the Arab, the Arab. Now, the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family with his own daughter Fatima says an example. Fatima is the mother of her father. He stands up when he walks past. When he's when Fatima enters the room, he sends his salams as he walks past Fatima's house. Fatima becomes the central axis of one of the most mystical moments in his life known as the Hadith al-Kisa or the Incident of the Cloak. His wife Khadija, the lady who raised him such as Fatima and Asad, Um Aiman, Fidla, you know, all of these, Asmaa bint Umayis. Those who try and say, but he's a man who married so many women, he's disrespectful. If it's, for example, some of our Christian brethren say that Muhammad is a man of lust. Interesting. I've seen prophets in the Bible who've married a few more than the Prophet Muhammad. But secondly, the Prophet Muhammad's one love in his life was Khadija. And he marries Khadija when he's 25 and they're together for 26 years till she dies. 25 plus 26 is 51. In those 26 years, it's the prime of your life. The prime of your strength. Surely you would think of marrying a second or a third or a fourth or a fifth. If your prime concern was your lust or fulfilling your sexual desires, but he will not marry anyone while he's with Khadija. The other marriages then come, yes, some are for legal reasons, some are for political tribal alliances, some are for social reasons, which have to be looked at. But when you're looking at the marriage to say the Khadija, had the Prophet Muhammad being a man as they try to accuse him of lust and a man who only thinks about his woman, then why between the age of 25 till the age of 51 would you not marry a second? Don't marry six. Don't marry seven. Marry a second. Mind you, the Arabs in his time, ten was a norm. As in when the verse came down about marrying four, these guys were in a bit of shock because ten to four was a difficult one. So it was actually reduced. It was reduced, yeah. You know, the Arab you give, you know, give him a bit of camel milk and some dates and the heat, you know, he's quite a stallion and I think what happens is that the Prophet Muhammad also makes it clear that this marrying ten wives, this not honoring the rights of your wives, you know, Sura 58 of the Quran is called the pleading woman or the one who pleads to God because of the way some women were being treated barbarically by their husbands or very rudely by their husbands. So there is a reform process that takes place and I'm not going to sit here and deny that look, the Prophet Muhammad marrying nine wives or ten wives or some will look at that and say, well, how could that be the case? But I think it's important for one to also realize that with Khadija, he was not interested in anyone else. That's right. So coming back to the ignorant practices of the Arabs at that time, how did the Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi tackle these issues? How did he come about to bring in moral and ethical values into the touch of community? Well, I think what's important first and foremost is that his reputation is, is, you know, spotless. You know, and that is fundamental. You can't come and preach to a group of people when your rep is not good. And so when he's known as Sadaq and Ameen, even his enemies used to leave their deposits and trusts with him. You know, in the night of his migration from Mecca to Medina, he tells Ali that one of your responsibilities is to make sure that you, you know, there's certain deposits we have. And those deposits were some deposits with some of the enemies. Return them back towards their owners. So first thing that helps. The second is that he's from the people who are those who are sent to those people, a prophet from amongst them. They've seen him walk the streets. They've seen him eat their food. So that's fundamental. Three practices what he preaches. Fundamental. Worst thing in the eyes of Allah is not to practice that which you preach or to say that which you do not act. And number four, he has companions alongside him who are pivotal. You know, people who are willing to put their neck on the line literally in the case of Yasser and Somaya, the parents of Hamar. Literally in the case of the likes of Bilal who are tortured, literally in the likes of Ja'far al-Tayyar, who's willing to put his neck on the line, travel to Africa in the most difficult circumstances to protect the religion of Islam in its infancy. Literally in the likes of the body of Ali ibn Abi Talib on the night of migration. So all of these are pivotal in his success. And also one thing we don't touch on or haven't touched on yet. One thing that was important about the Prophet's life and him being such a pivotal character in the community was he was also infallible. Now some argued that his infallibility came later. Some say he's not infallible. Could you clear this argument up of infallibility of the Prophet? When did he actually start? Was he born with it? Or did he attain it? And how did he carry on? There's two words which are often seen in theological texts when looking at the concept of the error-free person. One is the word Lotf. The other is the word Qodra. Lotf, grace from God. Qodra, ability of someone to do something for example. Infallibility is a grace bestowed by God upon his chosen creation. Be they in the cradle, in the case of Jesus, be they in their later ages, in the case of Moses or Noah or Abraham. Qodra is the ability to sin. The choice is there but you wouldn't out of respect of God. So the Prophet Muhammad is not a robot walking around the earth where he is restricted that he can't sit. No, sin can be in front of him but he chooses not to. That's an example for us. When we say he is the uswa, the exemplar is because in the barrage of abuse, barrage of hate, barrage of rudeness, you find the man's morals stand out. To us, he's error-free from the day he's born to the day he dies in revelation and outside of revelation. If the Prophet Jesus, can say from the cradle, I'm the servant of Allah, he's given me the book, given me wisdom, made me a prophet. So are you telling me the Prophet Muhammad from the day he's born cannot have that bestowed upon him by Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala? But once again, as I say, the Arabs themselves call him Saadaq and Amin. The highest traits morally in the human being. Are justice, truthfulness, trustworthiness? I defy any Arab who remembers the Prophet Muhammad before the age of 40 where he's ever been adulterous, idolatrous, liar, backbiter, slanderer, no one, none could point. All of them would think about leaving their deposits with him. Yes. You were talking about the abuse and things that he suffered from during the time of his campaign. Can we use that as motivation for us today when we fight Islamophobia in our communities and social media and places like that? How can we learn from Rasulullah? Brilliant question. I think today when we see our sisters maybe more than us getting a barrage of hate or a barrage of abuse, sometimes on the bus, sometimes on the train, sometimes at work in different parts of the world. We're lucky in London's very cosmopolitan atmosphere. There's certain areas where you get the wrong guy on the wrong night. Just looking at them wrong. Yeah, who's just seen the barbarity of ISIS and their behavior or seen one nutcase so-called Muslim on television speaking, you know, filth. Look at the problem Muhammad in his early years, the amount of abuse he receives is mentioned in the Qur'an to the extent that Allah eventually tells him. They were a lot to make fun of him. Allah protects him, but some would call him ebta. His kids die. Who's going to continue your lineage? Imagine your kids just died and people are making fun of you. Some would call him Shahir, you're just a poet, nothing more. Some would call him Sahir, a magician. Some would call him Kahin, soothsayer. Worse than worse, some would call him Majnun. Wow. Insane. When he prays, some would throw feces on him. Seriously. Qur'an mentions, I read it, have you seen the one who disrespects our servant when he's in prayer? He used to throw feces on his face, but always the Qur'an mentions that that you are a man of the most sublime morals and the Qur'an mentions, if you were hard-hearted or you were severe, they would have turned away from you. It's that soft-heartedness that the morals, and today I believe Islam has become too rigid, illegal, theological, only slanted religion in terms of its followers, and I believe that that spiritual ethical dimension is more what was postulated and what brought success to the message of the Prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon his family. We have people in our communities in prayer, they're amazing. They fast in Ramadan, but some of their akhlaq towards one another leaves a lot to be desired. Thuggish, loud, abrasive, always judgmental, always looking to pick the odd argument, always thinking they're better than others. What is it that makes the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon his family, but his soft-heartedness, you could throw trash at him in the morning, he'll come and visit the lady when she's ill. You know, Abu Sufyan could be the worst towards him, but on the day of the opening of Mecca, he says, you know what, he's one of the tolaqa, let him go. So these are lessons which I think are fundamental for us, how to counter the Islamophobia today, that there is a lot of Islamophobia, but you'll never see the Islamophobia like what the Prophet Muhammad saw. I do believe that our special guest is arriving now, but just before we welcome him on, can you, in one sentence, say the aim of Rasulullah's mission and his campaign, what was it, in one sentence? I would say in one sentence completion of the mission of the prophets that came before him, and that would be perfection of the most sublime morals of man. This religion is about its akhlaq. If a community loses akhlaq, that community dies. Thank you very much, Doctor. And now we'd like to welcome our special guest, Mullah Nazar, inshallah, he should be joining us now because he is a Maulud, he's the Maulid, he was here to celebrate the birth of the Prophet, and inshallah he can bless us with his voice and with his poetry. Peace be upon you. Peace be upon you, O Allah. Do we stand up or are we on the stand up? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's okay, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay. Peace be upon you, O Allah. It's okay, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Peace be upon you, O Allah. Peace be upon you, Mullah. Peace be upon you. Peace be upon you. Peace be upon you. O Allah. Peace be upon you. Peace be upon you. How are you? Fine, thank you. I hope you haven't travelled too far to come and enjoy us. Alhamdulillah, from Najaf. Masha Allah, Masha Allah. He's blessed. No, no, oh ya Allah. Masha Allah. Ya Allah. So, is there anything you'd like to say to the viewers to congratulate them on this special occasion? The Arabic, no problem. No, even in English, why? I can speak five languages. Masha Allah. Masha Allah. Residents of this country. Yes. Yeah, I congratulate to the people for the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, peace be upon him. I remember a few days ago, I was in school in the morning, nine o'clock in the morning, for recitation for the kids. And I talked about the celebration of Prophet Isa, peace be upon him, and Prophet Muhammad. I told them, no problem. Prophet Isa is one of the Prophet of Ulul Azb. Okay? Yes. And we can celebrate for him. No problem. But we cannot join their celebration. No problem. So, no Christmas trees at home this year? No. No problem. What's the problem? We can celebrate, we can do anything. But, I mean, we have wajib and we have awjab. Very true. We have that which is obligatory, but that which has even more obligatory. And more important at that time. More important is our Prophet, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, he is Khatamul Anbiya. And we have to really do celebration for our Prophet. That doesn't mean we don't do for other Prophets. So, most of you will know that Mullah Nazar is a very, very famous poet. Thank you. And insha'Allah, you have brought some poetry to share with us, insha'Allah. Yes, insha'Allah. Yes, insha'Allah. Which language? Four languages. Masha'Allah. Even in Urdu. Masha'Allah. Masha'Allah. Yeah, Urdu, the Janta. Masha'Allah. So, you're going to have to join the Urdu. You have to be ready to join the Urdu. No problem. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No problem. BarakAllah fi kum. Some of the back room staff to come and clap for us. Nade Ali, par nade Ali. Nade Ali, par nade Ali. Ali Ali, ali, ali. Dammu ali, ali. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. Wah, wah, wah, wah. Nade Hedari. Ya Ali. Ya Ali. Ya Ali, for forever we have to say, ya Ali. As-salamu alaikum, ya Sayyidi, ya Amira al-Mu'mineen. Mala shah. As-salamu alaikum. Language number three. No, it's still in Urdu. Still in Urdu. Still. Here you come. Because I believe that most of the people who watch the English TV, they are Urdu speakers. Of course, Urdu speakers. Very true. Very true. Very true. Let's do this. Okay. I'm here. Dammu ali, ali, ali, pukar. Harqa Dammu ali, ali, pukar. Dammu ali, ali, ali, pukar. Ali ke taraf gar to ek qadam barahega. Das qadam zamane se khud quag payega. Khud quag payega. Kyu ke nahi rak te ksi ka udhar. Dammu Dammu ali, ali, pukar. Harqa Dammu ali, ali, pukar. As-salamu alaikum. Tuj kufat me zahrai. Ke dohaim ili jaye. Khud tire ziharat ko ambiyaa chale aaye. Ambiyaa chale aaye. Karbalaapuhu jaye. Tuj o ek bar. Dammu Dammu ali, ali, pukar. As-salamu ala muhammad. Allah, as-salamu ala muhammad. Wa ala liyuh, muhammad. Ma'sha'Allah. Before you do the next one, I want to say to all the viewers that even in Urdu, you recite it like a professional Urdu reciter. I can't speak Urdu. You hit the notes properly. I speak five languages, really. As in, I couldn't tell that you were an Arab reciting it. You know how to do the style properly like a professional Urdu singer with. Ma'sha'Allah, that's real talent. I told you, I can speak five languages. Ma'sha'Allah. Ya, so I'm Urdu Janta really. Ma'sha'Allah. Ma'sha'Allah, ma'sha'Allah. Ma'sha'Allah, ma'sha'Allah. Ma'sha'Allah, ma'sha'Allah. Ma'sha'Allah, ma'sha'Allah. Ma'sha'Allah. Next one. Tomorrow is. No, no, it's not the next. I mean, you know, we are Thursday night. Yes. Yes. It's really the time or the day of Imam al-Hujjah, may Allah be pleased with him. May Allah be pleased with him. So, really we pray every Juma'ah for the Zuhur of Imam al-Hujjah. We are waiting for him to come and change the world to peace, salam, wa l-mahabbah, whole the world. And he will come, insha'Allah, from Kaaba, insha'Allah. We, insha'Allah, see that day and we can listen to his nidaa, she said nidaa in English. Call. Call. We can listen to his call. And Rewayat said that his call will be in all the languages. That's why, okay, I couldn't do one Qasida in all the languages of the world. But I did one Qasida in four languages. Ma'sha'Allah. It's about Imam al-Hujjah. He said, he said, he said. Kaisha, baqta, Zuhurat, ajjal Allah. Ajjal Allah, Zuhurak, ajjal Allah. Even time is waiting. The earth isn't rotating. I see roses are dying. Without you nothing's growing. You are medicine to the sick, ajjal Allah. Lawan faqarak zihar. Aidaak isli hum sakar. Laat khaliqil aathar. Al jayshum ya'l muntadar. Wafi bil hauman huzurak ajjal Allah. Ajjal Allah huzuhurak ajjal Allah. Ey mereb ya'ra imam. Tumpi dorudu salam. Hazir he teri ghulam. Lappi bas yih payam. Jaan zahra gule nargis ajjal Allah. Yeh zamiye haasima. Yeh juqaim hejha. Yeh ju chalti hehaba. Yeh jupani hehaba. Teri sidiqe mehqaim ajjal Allah. Ajjal Allah huzuhurak. Ajjal Allah. Allahumma salli ala muhammad wa alim muhammad. Beautiful. Thank you very much. Really beautiful. Maasha Allah. Thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for blessing us with your voice. Allah ya'fodkoum wa ta'bata'at. Before you go, if I can ask you some questions, if possible. Yes? In regards to the info, who said I will go? I don't know. I'm trying to find another one. Ask a question, you stay with us. Insha Allah, insha Allah. How important is it to actually celebrate the birth of Rasulullah? Is it important for us as Muslims, as a community to celebrate this and to hold on to this tradition? It's very important, yeah, because actually I can say the point which we can unit, you know, we are madahab, you know? We are madahab. It's real. We have a lot of madahab in Islamic words, okay? The only points, the only point which all of us is Mawlid al-Nabi. That's very true. But unfortunately, the other side of our brothers, they don't want it. They don't want to celebrate. They think it is badaa, which is actually not badaa. Rasulullah, he celebrated the birthday of Imam Al-Hasan. So celebrating a birthday is not badaa. Why to be badaa? He celebrated the birthday of Imam Al-Hasan. Imam Al-Hussein, on his way. Okay, now the world has been changed. So we have our way to celebrate. Maybe even in my home, in my house, okay? If I want to celebrate for my son, I will do it in my way. Maybe I bring a cake, maybe no, I take them to the park. You will do your way. Correct. Maybe you take them to Karbala. You tell them, okay, the gift is for you Karbala. Maybe you buy for him a new mobile phone. Lucky kid. Everybody has. We cannot say my way is badaa or your way is badaa. Okay, Rasulullah celebrated on his way. We celebrate in our way. We have Qasahid and this is not badaa. It's very nice to recite Qasahid. It's a sunnah actually of the companions. Hassan bin Thabit, amongst others who were asked by the Prophet, peace be upon his family, to recite poetry. Imagine. And even the Prophet's uncle Abu Talib, he was a known poet. You know, so you had people around the Prophet, peace be upon his family, who were great poets. But in the case, as I said, of Hassan bin Thabit, the Prophet would say to him, go up and recite. Say it to be honest. They know, they understand more than me and you. And they know everything, but they don't want. I think something which I mentioned earlier in the show was the Sunni world separate from the Wahhabi Salafi world. The Sunni world you'll find, as you know, in Sudan, in Egypt, in Oman, in other places, you have the love of the Prophet and the Maulid celebration. Of course they do. I have been in Egypt four years ago. It was in the Maulid and Nebawi times. We went to our friend house. They have some special bread or cake, something, yeah. Correct, yes, yes. And he told me, this is for Maulid. Da'al Maulid in Nebawi, we will ask them to eat. They force you, you have to eat. This is for Maulid. This is Baraka, they tell me. This is Baraka. So even Baraka in Egypt is normal. I saw myself in Ra'as al-Husayn, Dari'ah and Maqam, Ra'as al-Husayn. I saw myself, the Egyptian people come and do, Yes, they rub. They touch the Dari'ah for Baraka. We don't ask the Dari'ah or ask Husayn to give us something. We ask Allah, but we put him as a... Intermediary, yeah. I remember even 3rd of Sha'ban. I was fortunate one year to be in Al-Qahirah, Cairo. 3rd of Sha'ban, I could not believe. Honestly, I thought I was in Karbala. Wow. Candles everywhere. People celebrating with joy. The Sunni world in its origin has a profound love for the Ahlul Bayt. Yes, they do, definitely 100%. Wherever you had gone, you'd always find the honouring of the grandchildren of the Ahlul Bayt. Sayyid an-Nafisa, you found, for example, other parts in Pakistan and India, there are monuments for the grandchildren of Ahlul Bayt. But sadly, as we said, the Salafi Wahhabi ideology is the one that has pushed people away to calling everything a bit out and shirk and so on. By the way, let me tell you, the very famous recitation of Quran of Abdul Basr, which is very famous. Yes, it's very famous. Yes, that all of this, and Hussari, and Manshawi, and Ablawi, do you know where was the recitation and where they recorded? Where? Maqam Ra'as al-Husayn. Masha'Allah. SubhanAllah. Masha'Allah. This all was in Maqam Ra'as al-Husayn. There was not in the studio or in other places. It was in Maqam Ra'as al-Husayn. All of this famous recitation, which people love to listen, it was in Maqam Ra'as al-Husayn. Masha'Allah. I'm afraid that's what we have time for. A final thought, please, to the viewers. Something that you would like them to take away from this episode. I think firstly, we thank Mulla Nazar for joining us. Secondly, don't forget Imam Al-Sadaq, tomorrow we remember him. And I think as Ja'fariyah, it is fundamental that on the 17th of Rabi' Al Awal, we remember the Imam as well as remembering his great grandfather. And thirdly, try and make your children enjoy such days. They love on their days of Farah, on their days of joy for them, for the people to be joyous, and on their days of Huzun, for the people to be in state of grief. And we need to have a nice balance. So tomorrow or today, let your kids enjoy, as Mulla said. Take them out, buy them something nice, gifts, ice cream. Let the people remember this as a joyous occasion. Even the small candy, yeah. Yeah, they don't forget. They remember. My father gave me on the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. Correct. Correct. And that builds a relation between them and the greatest creation of God. Please, in Urdu, would you like to give a final message to the Urdu? A final message as we... But by the way, we do have a show tomorrow at 9 p.m. So please join us tomorrow as we will commemorate and celebrate the birthday of Imam Sadiq at 9 p.m. But I would like to invite Haji Nadar to say a few words as we roll the credits and as we leave the show. Please. This is the Qasidah who really, even you like it. Ali Ali Mawla. Allah, I love it. I'm going to clap. And the person who is the best at doing it is him. Allah. Subhanallah. Allah. Ali Alimawla Naam se usuke karatahu ebetida aya Jorah maanurahim ehamara khuda Har din jisuke shahe sabse judaya Hamdi kaseera ke laik ehe bas khuda Os al lani jisuke kaha ebali Ali Alimawla Qaalur Rabi'a quln al awwal ali Qaalur Raghun anhu fil qur'a Tamat fihin ni'umatu min rabbin a'inu bi fadlil karna Fas al a'nuhu l-layla wa suha l-waghah Afahal kan'a mithlu Ali al-baghal Walik yadih a'ndal jihadi Ali Ali Alimawla Ya Ali, thank you Mullah, thank you so much. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful, always. Yes Sayyidin Mohsin, tell us. Are we off? When are we done? Then please join us tomorrow at 9 p.m. as we commemorate the birthday of Imam Sadiq alaihi salam, with Dr. Ammar Naqshwani to all our viewers. Enjoy the day, enjoy the evening. As both of my guests said, please, please buy some chocolates for your children and at least kiss them. Mashallah, Mashallah. Until next time, tomorrow, salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu.