 رحمان الرحيم والله مصلي على محمد وآلي محمد السلام عليكم دي بيوز ورحمة الله وبركاته ورحمة الله وبركاته مرحباً لأخر أبسود في لندن ودكتر سيد عمان نقشواني ولكن نتحدث عن التحديث عن أمام سيد جاد أمامه وموضوعه اليوم أبسود سوف نتحدث عن أبسود أبسود وذلك هو أبسود أبسود أن تنقشه كبيراً لتأكيد من ذلك وأنه لا يستطيع أن تقوم بك وأنك لا تنقش بك هذا هو المقربة في رسالة الحقوق مقربة ومقربة ومقربة يكتب عن أمام سيد جاد أنا أعتقد أن هذا هو مهمة لأننا لا نتفكر على ما نضعه في أمامنا على موضوعات موضوعه أحضت أبسود أبسود أبسود أبسود لذلك أعتقد أن ننقش ذلك لكن الأمر هو أننا نحتاج إلى أن نشاهد ما نريد ونتحدث عن هذا مع الدكتر سيد عمان قشوان إن شاء الله لذلك نحن نأخذه إن شاء الله سلام عليكم سيدنا وعليكم السلامة ورحمة الله أتمنى أن تفعلوا جيدا إن شاء الله إن شاء الله إن شاء الله شكرا سيدنا براءة السمك هل تعتقد أننا as وستين مسلمين لدينا أشياء مع هذا than مسلمين في الثانية أو براءة المسلمين أعتقد أننا نشاهد من المسلمين هل أنت في الثانية أو في الثانية أعتقد أن نشاهد براءة المسلمين لكن هذا مجموعة أشياء في الثانية لأن there is more availability of that which is not Halal لذا إذا كنت تستمتع في الثانية المسلمية the situation is different where you have majority Muslim countries if I am living in Iraq I know wherever I am going to go I am not even going to question what is in the aswaq of the Muslims you eat it straight and even if you are anywhere else in the Middle East there is a recognition that everybody recognizes the law of the religion of Islam even if it is not an Islamic state and so those challenges may not necessarily come up as much and even the challenges of what you drink for example maybe when you are living for example in the West the prevalence of pork the prevalence of alcohol means that there is going to be a few more challenges for you however saying all of that that does not mean that we forget about looking after our stomachs and indeed looking after our health where you are living in the Middle East or you are living in London there is still a responsibility on the human being to ensure that they have healthy physical lives as well as healthy spiritual lives I think in our mosques you will find that there is a major focus from the imams of the mosques on having a very healthy spiritual life and so what you have is many discussions on the nefs many discussions on jihad in nefs tasqiat in nefs on making sure that you can discipline the soul as much as you can and I think there is far too little discussions on looking after our physical health and sometimes when you are looking at some of the people within the Muslim community it's not unusual for example in the month of محرم to look around you and see some of the most unhealthy bodies on earth and at the same time look at people who for example have seen a spiritual so you are then asking yourself a question can I be someone who is spiritual but who is completely neglected my body would the Ahl al-Bait have for example wanted people to be reaching levels of obesity where they are not looking after their health at all I must put a disclaimer out there that I know there are people who face physical challenges which mean it's extremely difficult for them to maybe look as they want to not everybody genetically may be predisposed to being able to lose weight quickly or being able to look after their health with ease as much as others like you I know very well are the type of person who say this to all the viewers that this is someone who can have a donor kebab every day of the week and not gain any weight that's not a problem at all on the contrary you're able to have that junk food and you're I don't know if you're observing the rights of your stomach islamically but you're able to have that junk food and you can get away with it if you look at some of our team in the back we're not going to mention any names and it wouldn't really be because it'll be front biting but I think if you're going to look at some of them in the back you'll find that they are telling me because they sit in chairs all day they sit in chairs all day there's some great gyms I think there's a gym literally across the road where they can go and they can work out and they can look after their stomachs and I think that's why now the increase in people who are having surgeries on their in some cases you do have people who have reached a level of obesity and that is in some cases because those people did not have the willpower to be able to discipline themselves others no they try their hardest in the gym as much as they can but they cannot look after themselves so I think whether you're on the west or you're on the east there remains that challenge to make sure you look after the right of your stomach not only by staying away from that which is حرام but also by ensuring that that which you do eat you think about correct me if I'm wrong but sura 80 verse 24 don't make your stomachs graveyards for animals does that mean أهل البيت promoted the vegetarian diet sura 80 verse 24 of the holy Quran says let man have a look at the food that they eat and there is two ways of looking at that eye of the holy Quran the first way of looking at that eye of the holy Quran is literal make sure that you ponder over that which you are eating I think I'm one of those people who sometimes is very negligent when it comes to the food that we eat as long as I for example am told by one of the workers that it's حلال that's enough for me and sometimes maybe a person should ask a few more questions especially when you're living in the west you find that we neglect the possibility that even when you're eating something let's say you're eating cod somewhere they may have put white wine all over it or they may have put red wine on this salad and you'll find that many of us don't even ask questions about these things and that there does need to be more of a pondering because there is a famous saying which is very important for all of us to understand and that is that you are what you eat and that's not an Islamic saying that's a saying that's recognized by all the rational minds that the human being is what they eat they become a reflection of what they eat whatever you eat has a particular energy that surrounds it for example Hinduism and Buddhism that to one extreme other religions may take it to another where for example they may tell you that you shouldn't have any meat whatsoever because there may be a certain negative energy associated with the sacrifice but when the Quran said فَالْيَنْضُرَ الْإِنْسَانُواْ إِلَا طَعَامِهَنْ was trying to make clear to us that that ta'am that comes in our lives we have to ponder very carefully because that could easily have an effect on our spiritual lives as well you know our physical and spiritual lives are interconnected and you find that many of the great scholars when you ask their mothers about the way they live their life they were very picky on a couple of things one of them is that they'd always be in a state of while pregnant and another is that they'd always be wary of not eating that which is even something which is جيوبيس now technically speaking you may look at something and say well as long as it's حلال that's enough for me but what if someone turns around and says that that particular restaurant I heard that the meat that they bring one day might be حلال the next day if there's not enough حلال they don't mind buying حرام some people will not take any care with that so others will turn around and say hold on if there's a sheikh surrounding this food I know that technically as long as it says حلال that's enough but there's a difference between for example the different levels of spirituality in Islam relating to these things there is someone who for example might be a Muslim another might be a Mu'min another might be someone with تقوة another might be someone with ورع another might be someone who reaches the level of إخلاص there's all these different spiritual levels God could have easily used one word but when Allah SWT has used a number of words it's related and very much correlated to how careful you are not just with the حلال and حرام but also with the areas where there might be for example كراه in them there might be reprehensible that there might be some foods for example which are مقروح now you know as Muslims the moment we hear something it's مقروح we're still going to do it as long as it's not حرام as long as it's not حرام I think sometimes what we don't realize is that act which is مقروح can have a negative effect on us spiritually yes it's not prohibited but it's not something that's going to get us closer to Allah SWT spiritually so even therefore when it comes to the area of فاليانظر الإنسان وإلا طعامه لأ لأ من كان about the food that they eat the first meaning of it was literally food there is a second meaning which I want to mention which I still think is very important is that إمام البقر عليه السلام says فاليانظر الإنسان وإلا طعامه is let mankind ponder over food for thought now just think about this food can be literal yes there's also food for thought when someone's got a good idea or someone wants to explain something to you because let me give you something as food for thought that's not literally you eating their idea rather that is a particular piece of knowledge that's going to come to you and إمام البقر عليه السلام says فاليانظر الإنسان وإلا طعامه as you mentioned verse 24 of the holy Quran إمام البقر عليه السلام states that let man ponder over the knowledge that's reaching them that sometimes in our lives we have to really ask ourselves a question who's giving us food for thought sometimes in our life giving us lectures a person who's giving us advice a person who's an Imam of a masjid I do still have to ponder about that which they give me some people say no if this person says something I take it blindly no not at all I think the Quran and the ethos of the Quran is for us to reflect hold on where's this طعام this food for thought where's it coming from is it coming from a good source is it coming from a healthy source is it coming from a legal source or a prohibited source you know so lawful source or prohibited so I think there's two ways of looking at this ayah but I think the literal way is important that فاليانظر الإنسان وإلا طعامه make sure you think about that طعام how it's been processed has it been slaughtered properly is it something clean is it something that's gonna help your spirituality before you eat it and I suggest for misquoting the ayah earlier but back to what I did mention don't make your stomachs a graveyard for animals does that actually mean that we should be vegetarians essentially no don't make your stomachs graveyards for animals is a famous حديث of Imam Ali and I think what Imam Ali was saying was guys you know what not too much me I think if you look at our mosques if we don't have meat if it's not on the menu that day especially in the Arab countries if you look at the way they break their fast in the holy month of Ramadan you really are amazed that the amount of meat that's there what's even more amazing is how much of it is thrown away and I think that there is a lot of us in our lives if we don't have meat in a meal we get disgruntled we get unhappy we get sentimental to our lifestyle and when you're looking for example at the holy prophet peace be upon him the holy prophet didn't notice that there were certain people who thought that if you don't eat meat or you don't perfume yourselves or you don't have sexual relations then this was a sign of zohd this was a sign of asceticism or spirituality I remember there are some people who say why didn't Imam Ali call him أثمان and he named his son أثمان after أثمان بن مضعون أثمان بن مضعون was one of probably the 14th river to the religion of Islam and أثمان بن مضعون one day the prophet peace be upon him is discussing with his wife عائشة about generally about the community and عائشة was talking about the fact that she couldn't believe how أثمان بن مضعون's wife had completely neglected herself and so when she asked her why have you neglected yourself you used to be one of the most beautiful girls in the whole of Arabia and now you just don't care about yourself anymore and she's like well who do I have to look after myself for my husband stops putting you know stopped sexual relations now he stops perfume stops eating meat because he thinks that this is a sign of المتقين that if you're the type of person who doesn't eat me but doesn't have sexual relations then you're a متقين and the Holy Prophet peace be upon his family interesting the narration mentions how he leaves his house not in a state of happiness at all it's a state of sadness that why is my community thinking that by staying away from sex or staying away from the eating of meat or staying away from perfume or aftershave then that means that you're going to be someone who's counted as religious so when he tells when he explains to him he says to him عثمان I am of those who has sex in terms of I am the one who is married I am of those who uses perfume and I am of those who eats meat so therefore if a Muslim thinks when Imam عليه السلام says don't make your stomachs graveyards for animals yes meaning don't have for example lamb here and let's say chicken here and more lamb and more donors and a couple more donors and a cheeseburger and a quarter pounder and a couple more donors you're making me hungry and I'm making myself hungry at the moment but when Imam عليه السلام says don't make your stomach a graveyard for animals what he's trying to say to us is be moderate in the way that you eat even those who try and look after their bodies you know we mentioned in our discussions on Islam and sex there's a phenomenal difference between those who look after what goes into their stomachs and their sex life and when I'm saying sex life I'm not talking about how much sex they have rather I'm talking about how long they can last in their sexual relations in their sexual relations when you're looking at this you'll find that there are certain people because of for example them not being you know looking after their bodies you'll find that as the type of person after 30 seconds after 45 seconds straight away you can hear the snoring whereas there are others no if they can look after their bodies and what they're eating I think that this is something that has a profound effect on their lives so Imam عليه السلام is not espousing that oh we all become vegetarians rather he's saying that you know what maybe a bit more broccoli in the diet maybe a bit more sweet potatoes in the diet maybe the odd soup every once in a while maybe have you know a variety you know try and change it up with some fish with some chicken and try and think about making sure that you have a healthy balance in that diet that will be something that will help you spiritually as well صورة 5 صورة المائدة verse 3 now the translation obviously might be a bit off hopefully it's not but the general idea is بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم the flesh of swine and that which has been dedicated to other than الله سبحانه وتعالى and those killed by strangling or by a violent blow or by a head long fall or by the goring of horns and those from which a wild animal has eaten except what you are able to slaughter and those which are sacrificed on stone altes and the last bit is and that you seek decision through divine arrows so does that mean eating dead flesh or for example cannibalism yeah I mean it doesn't need to be made clear that surely no one would do that I don't think there's a religion that has as many dietary laws as the religion of Islam and I often get asked by people what about the religion of Islam really made you want to remain a Muslim I've had these personal conversations with people in my time and there's two things that stand out for me one is the relationship between God and the human being in the Quran how God views the human being but the second is that there is such an intricacy in every detail of the life of the human being we discuss the sex life the economic life the political life the life of purification every aspect when it comes to the area of eating food because if you repeat the verse again and you break it down God here is speaking about sometimes in the Quran God speaks about that which is permissible for you sometimes God speaks about that which is impermissible for you now someone might turn around and say why are you guys so concerned about what's impermissible for you and wants to help the growth and development of the human being I as a human being if you left it to me McDonald's burger king I'll devour them I don't care what burger comes from where I don't care which animals involved if you take me to the Chinese takeaway I want to go into that Chinese takeaway and I want to be in a situation where I can have pork chops I want to be eat I don't care how the pig gets slaughtered I don't care whose slaughter is the pig I don't care what aspects of that slaughter what cleanliness is involved however Islam on the other hand try to make it clear that there are certain slaughterings there are certain foods which are prohibited for you if you repeat the verse again you'll see that there is a criteria for them okay so from the start بسم الله الرحمن الرحمن they are prohibited to you dead animals blood the flesh of swine and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah so for example you asked me the question about cannibalism you said well will anyone for example eat that which is already dead you know you know found there is no problem to chew the liver of Hamza the uncle of the prophet Muhammad peace be upon his family one of the most disgusting acts which society as a whole accepts as disgusting and in the religion of Islam is eating the dead flesh of the human being for example that is not something which is seen as being permissible and then you have for example within that verse other areas which give us an indication of maybe how the Arabs were doing their slaughter because we know when a Muslim slaughter is an animal for example you've got part of the slaughtering process is that you know there's all these conditions which really amazed you in terms of just how intricate things must be it's not just a matter of oh a Muslim has to say and that's it it's done firstly make sure that that animal is an animal that is not slaughtered for example in front of the family members let's say of that animal there has to be a humanity there there should be water given to that animal before it's slaughtered we have the famous you know narration which is there in محر من صفر وإمام زين العبدين عليه السلام famously asks the butcher that do you give water to the sheep before you slaughter it and إمام زين العبدين عليه السلام replies and the butcher replies by saying that well of course I do every animal deserves water before it is slaughtered and he says well my father was not given water before he was slaughtered and what you have at that moment is the إمام showing the importance of even giving water to that animal before the animal slaughtered and then you know you have some countries it's amazing if you go on youtube there are some countries they are so horrendous some people I should say so horrendous in the way that they eat an animal people don't realize this has an effect on your soul I remember hearing that in the far east there are people who eat from the brain of the monkey now if you say for example in their culture that eating from the brain of the monkey is something which they allow if you hear the way that this is done it shows you the difference between that which is instituted by man for their own and desires and that which is inspired by the lord you'll find that what happens is they actually lock the monkey into a particular device and they'll crack open the skull of the monkey and begin to eat from the brain of that monkey while the monkey is dying now this on the day of judgment we will be asked if there was a cat that was thirsty if we help the cat then we will be looked after if there was a dog that's hungry and we will be of those who have helped the dog God will reward but when an animal if you're going to accept that animals are there for us they have a particular reason for their creation that animal which you are going to slaughter make sure that it's done in a way which doesn't bring barbarity to yourself that's why the butcher in Islam is a reprehensible job it's needed but it's not something which is recommended because you get used to blood being around you but also with these animals not only did Islam the Quran, the world of Hadith say your stomach should never have these animals yes the lamb for example sheep, beef you know fish for example these animals there is a particular reason he has created them and has allowed us to consume them but there are directives you don't want negative energy to come into your stomach which in turn has an effect on your spirituality so what's amazing is that when you hear the story that hind the mother of Muawiyah wife of Abu Sufyan when Sayyeda Zaynab when Sayyeda Zaynab in the court in Sham she said to him how can I hope for sympathy and compassion from someone whose grandmother should deliver of the nobles now what I want to see and what I want to show all the viewers here is the correlation that Sayyeda Zaynab shows us between what you eat and what you become you see how can I hope for sympathy and compassion we all want people who are sympathetic and compassionate human beings in our life no one disrespects a sympathetic or compassionate human being people look at them with high esteem when Sayyeda Zaynab says how can I hope for sympathy and compassion from someone whose grandmother should deliver of the nobles when grandmother do grandmother should deliver of a human being completely hara not just any human being a noble human being Sayyeda Shahada Hamza son of Abdulmuttalib here Sayyeda Zaynab shows us something majestic for us when it comes to our stomach and what we have if the slaughtering process is a process on the animal on the water to the animal on where we slaughter the animal from on the direction of slaughtering on the words that are recited believe you me I've seen videos now people can turn around and say well these aren't authentic and so on as in videos where animals have come to the slaughter upon hearing the Quran and put themselves in a particular position as if Allah SWT created for example that animal with that disposition now people out there might turn around to me and say well I don't believe in God what do you mean animals I created with a certain disposition we know very well that there is a certain disposition there is a certain recognition of certain animals of their environments of their habitats that give us an indication of a small amount of consciousness of presence even for that animal so in the religion of Islam when the Quran gives us this verse the Quran is making clear for us that dietary laws is not to disrespect people who don't have these laws you see there may be other religions that don't have these laws they might say to you for example that those animals that you've quoted or that death that you've quoted is something that should be allowed Quran is saying we don't want to disrespect you but the Lord of the heavens and the earth the Lord of the religion of Islam is making clear to you that this is something which is prohibited for you to eat in the liver of Hamza just a side point does that mean that what you eat goes through your family as well and through your bloodline I don't want to necessarily say that it continues in the bloodline although I think her point to Yazid is saying that and it comes exactly in the next paragraph if you were to read her khutbah exactly the next paragraph she says you boast about your disbeliever so if a person looked at their grandmother chewing the body of a human being and regrets it is sad about it then that person will never have those traits but when a person boasts about them later I wish my ancestors from better were present to see what I've done then at that moment you may see a correlation but I wouldn't say just because someone نبي نوح had the best diet on earth his son was a disbeliever so just because the father has the best health physically it doesn't mean it's going to transfer to the son everyone makes their own choices then in that case why is Islam so anti-pork specifically pork I think Islam is not the only religion as you mentioned لحم الخنزير what's translated normally as سوين or the flesh of swine Islam is not the only religion جل أستين the famous christian lecture and man of religion in houston texas has a wonderful discussion on youtube where he looks at he makes the joke I don't want to ruin all your Sunday or your Sunday lunches but the bible is very clear that this is something which is prohibited you know the pig if you look at the pig it's a scavenger it's willing to even eat anything absolutely anything you want to throw excrement and feces near a pig it's willing to devour it it's willing to devour it's own kid if it's dead there are certain even traits related to the pig that some have mentioned and others differ you know even willing to see another pig with it's wife if you try to go near a lioness in front of mr lion then you become a shawarma that night but with mr pig if you're cool enough he doesn't mind you having a good time with mrs pig and so these traits are traits that I want to carry with us I know that there are those in the medical field who are experts in medicine who will be able to tell you of the way the pig lives its life then in turn the way the pig is slaughtered how much of an effect medically on a negative level this hats on the body of the human being you know there are discussions of the worms that grow after the consumption of of pork there are many people out there who will tell you about their experiences with pork and then having left the eating of pork you know and bacon and so on and so for us in the religion of Islam it's on two levels it's on the level of the physical and the level of the spiritual that when something is prohibited within the religion of Islam it has physical and spiritual disadvantages to the human being أحسنتم سيدنا before we continue with the discussion I would like to take us to a quick break insha'Allah I remind the viewers they can call in the number will be on your screen when we return insha'Allah and I will also call it out to you prepare your questions for the say to answer insha'Allah so we can be at your service but for now السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته come back the viewers to live in London with Dr. Sayal Ammar Naqshawani where we've been discussing the rights of the stomach and insha'Allah this is a question that we discuss always with my friends the question of fish or sea animals now we always have punch ups when we go to restaurants why are you ordering this why are you ordering that so I'm going to ask you I'm going to read out the ayah in the Quran about this topic and insha'Allah I'm going to ask you about the different types of fish and tell me straight up let's discuss it first then so the first goes بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم is game from the sea and it's food as provisions for you and the travelers but forbidden to you is game from the land as long as you are in the state I think it's interesting what's the reference of the ayah by the way well done I'm proud of your preparation it's the only time I spend with you 6 of the holy Quran yes this question about fish is interesting because there are many people who are uncertain which fish is allowed which fish is not allowed and I think fish plays a major role especially when you're living in areas where there's no halal meat for example can't get halal meat can't get halal chicken everyone's next option is fish people straight away go to where to fish and so the question arises that the Quran people always ask me 5 vs 96 it seems like every fish should be allowed because if you read the ayah again what does it say exactly lawful to you is game from the sea lawful to you is game from the sea so someone says that means Sayyidna that every single fish in the sea I should be allowed to eat I ask you a question if you finish the ayah till the end does it give you an indication that this may have a context read it till the end what context could it be about so lawful to you is game from the sea and it's food as provisions for you and the travellers so there's travelling happening here but forbidden to you is game from the land as long as you are in the state of Ihram question what does fish being allowed all of it in the sea is to do with Ihram unless we are discussing here what can be hunted while you are in a state of Ihram not which fish is allowed you see many times people if they show you this ayah and I respect all the madahab in the religion of Islam because all of them whether it's جعفري, حنفي, مالكي, شافي, حنبلي all of them have their own interpretation of these verses of the Holy Quran depending where you are getting your teachings from many times when our people say that lawful for you is game from the sea and for the traveller but it mentions Ihram when it mentions Ihram therefore it gives us an understanding that hold on is what is at stake here what fishes are permissible for you or what you can hunt while you are in a state of Ihram do you remember Imam Al-Jawad when he was at that young age where they said he doesn't have much knowledge and then the chief judge of Baghdad يحيا بن أكثم came to Imam Al-Jawad and Imam was howled at the time Imam Al-Jawad was 8 or 9 and I'll never forget that Imam الرضع عليه السلام used to say that the greatest you know greatest blessing for Al-Muhammad was the birth of Imam Al-Jawad because Imam Al-Jawad was really the first Imam where you could clearly tell that their knowledge is inspired by God and that يحيا بن أكثم asked him a question about what's the kafara for someone who hunts while they are in a state of Ihram Imam Al-Jawad at the time 8 or 9 years of age and Imam Al-Jawad everyone was like how's he going to answer that one what's the kafara for the one who goes hunting Ihram Imam Al-Jawad عليه السلام interestingly turns around and he says to him your question is quite vague oh chief judge and he says what do you mean he goes are you talking about Ihram for عمر or Ihram for حج normal animal or wild animal is it for example on the daytime or is it in the night in Makkah so he took him around in circles telling him that your question is looking for one answer but you need to break down your question because there's so many thousands of answers available now this eye in the Holy Quran is telling us that for example if I'm in the state of Ihram hunting for fish is permissible whereas hunting for the land is not permissible there's so many things saying all fish in the sea are allowed and the way we can understand this is number one to F.C.R number two this is a جعفري and حنف Maliki, شافعي and حنبلي believe all fish in the sea can be eaten جعفري and حنف you say no that there are conditions fish with scales can be eaten fish without cannot be eaten بلايه السلام I remember a narration in the وسائل of الحر العاملي there's a narration where the Imam would go to people and tell them beware of eating fish without scales beware of selling fish without scales to that extent now that means that when it comes to the جعفري school we cannot eat all fish we are able to eat the fish with scales someone says okay there might be a couple of jurists who say that you can eat all fish but they may put a كراه on it Reprehensibility مقروه some will say well I don't give it as long as it's مقروه حرام I'm going to eat it others will turn around and say no on the contrary if the unanimous opinion of many of the Maraja is that you know fish with scales is allowed fish without and remember we're not the only ones there are other religions forget مذاهب other religions that are very focused on the fact that fish with scales you can eat and fish without you cannot eat so this is the part where we go through the fish scene because a lot of these fishes have disputes on them and I've seen it first time God bless the fishes Kalamari حرام محمد حلال سيباز حلال اويستر حرام خد حلال يلو فش حلال حلال حلال شورنة حلال لكن لا أريد أن أرغب أي شخص من هناك يمكن أن يكون هناك بعض الناس فقط قلت كالاماري أعلم أن هناك بعض الناس فقط قلت كراب أو اكتبس أو لبستار حراماً سأرغب لهم حياتهم لا أرغب أن أرغب لكم حياتهم أعطي أن أتمنى أنك لديك حياة جداً لكن أعتقد أنه عندما يأتي إلى المراجع المراجع أو المنطقة المراجعة في كثير من هذه الأحيان are unanimous في بعض هذه الأحيان you might find the odd opinion for example there's always a debate well if you're saying fish with scales is allowed and fish without scales is not allowed then why is it that you can eat prawns for example you can eat shrimps now when we look at any eye of the Holy Qur'an we look for the teachings of the Ahnel Bayt حليم السلام we have a clear narration حليم السلام it specifically mentions that the shrimps are allowed so that gives us an indication that it's permissible so some people may you know you refer back to your your grand scholars and see what they say however I'm amazed that how many people out there today you'll find where things like oyster and crab and lobster and calamari they made it very normal for themselves in this world and I have to say something and that is you know if even if a person tells me well this is Makruho that scholar said this I think God has given us so much in this world which is حلال without sheikh which is you know حلال for all of us to use why go towards the areas of doubt I think that has an effect on even one's spiritual lives as well حسنتم سيدنا now a question on kosha food which is also really disputed within a lot of people صورة المائدة i-5 states بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم this day good foods have been made lawful and the food of those who are given the scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them Jewish faith i-5 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم اليوم أحلو لكم الطيبات والطعام الذين أوتوا الكتاب وحلو لكم you know here when we look at the interpretation of the Ahlul Bayt عليهم السلام they you know there are people out there who for example have eaten they eat kosha because they say this is the meat of the people of Ahlul Kitab the Jewish for example they eat kosha because they say this is the meat of the people of Ahlul Kitab the Jewish for example community and they say that that's why we're allowed to eat it and they say that our our slaughtering is similar and while yes a lot of the principles of the way that we slaughter the animal is similar of course there is no facing the animal towards qiblah you know بسم الله he's not recited but also here in this ayah إمام الصادخ عليه السلام was asked when it says that the طيبات of Ahlul Kitab that is permissible for you he said yes the herbs the vegetables of Ahlul Kitab you can eat no problem but it doesn't mean the meat of Ahlul Kitab so you'll find that the majority of the مراجع will make clear that you cannot eat the meat of Ahlul Kitab I know that in some of the of our brothers in other schools in Islam you'll find that they'll say well you know if you go to a McDonald's or a Burger King for example or eat chicken and meat normally like many Muslims you'll find when they come to non-Muslim countries they've come from Saudi or they've come from Dubai or they've come from Kuwait and you'll see them eating meat and chicken everywhere either they think McDonald's is حلال as it is in their countries or they say well these are Ahlul Kitab why can't I eat when the Quran says you can eat the food of Ahlul Kitab we say yes that's the herbs and that let me give you a scenario because we will ask this question actually the person messages and ask my wife became shea and she was Hindu can she still eat at her parents or is it نجاسة there should be no issue eating at her parents you know her parents for example have cooked a vegetarian meal and there's no issue and I know many of these parents they've gone through an extremely difficult time knowing that their son has converted to another religion it's not easy for any parent to know that their daughter or son has converted to another religion and then let alone on top of that for you to say to their daughter or their son you can't go back to your parents' house to eat with them because they are impure that's not the act or the manners of the religion of Islam there's no issue on that there are exceptions to every rule yeah then say alcohol is نجاس if I go to a restaurant and they serve alcohol can I eat there? well I think when you're looking at the opinions of the Maraja as long as alcohol is not on your table then there is no issue eating at that restaurant and then they divide even sitting in the table from obligatory precaution to haram so for example if a person sits at the table where there is alcohol but doesn't eat doesn't drink just sits there you'll find that Iit al-Assistani may Allah lengthen his life he makes a distinction from the one who actually sits and drinks and eats on a table where others are drinking alcohol and this could be something very interesting when it comes to even some of our people in the world who are in the world of banking or for example in the world of law where they have to go to these dinners networking networking or they go to a conference away with their firm and part of that conference is them having to socialize now there are a couple of steps that can be taken either from day one someone can make clear that a gathering where alcohol is going to be the center stage is something that I cannot go ahead with is against my principle some people think that that will bring a backlash from the company on the contrary sometimes that actually brings more respect remember whether it's us with our principles the seeks with the protection of the turbine that they may wear to work the Jewish community with their what they're wearing for example religiously when they go to work every religion have got members of its community who have got certain laws which they want to abide by even when they go to the workplace and so those people will also mention areas which are boundaries for them so one way to look at this issue is a person can turn around and say that from the beginning I cannot another way however is okay I can come and socialize but I cannot necessarily be there for the whole night the third way is that I can be there I might sit at that table precaution has to be taken because still you cannot be sitting at a table where there is alcohol but let's say there's a distinction between sitting there and then sitting and ordering socializing and passing around the bottles and you know cheers and cheers and cheers no that is prohibited what if the restaurant you are eating in there majority of the income is from the alcohol sales does that make a difference I've got nothing to do with you you know you've got alcohol being sold but you're sitting on a table you've ordered what fish did we say were allowed for example let me refer back to that yeah we said that there's certain fish which are allowed let's say you ordered cod and chips and at that moment there's no issue and not in your concern how that business is is running that's what I'm saying in countries like Dubai and I don't know what I'm eating if it's Halal or not I'll say there's a lot of people expats live in there as well do I need to ask for example if I enter a burger king do I need to ask if it's Halal or not once you see that wapa you know you're not asking let's know where you're asking I know you your son GE3 straight no one's asking but this is this is this is this is this is this is this is a country where you have people who believe in لا إله الا الله محمدا مسول الله and and you know when you're there you know we have a principle in Islamic law and if you read the books you know of the principles of Islamic law not just the books of but also which we have which make it clear that you know when you're in this Muslim country there's no need to ask you're in a Muslim country and that should be enough of course unless we gather a sufficient amount of information that's making clear for us that's a major problem otherwise no okay we've spoken about eating or sitting in a place that serves alcohol what happens you know if someone's forced to work in a place that serves alcohol or pork even is that permissible I think I think when you're looking at the laws alcohol is a major problem you know in terms of Islamic law there's no real loopholes there whatsoever you know let's say when you're looking at let's say start on the base level you're in a non-Muslim country you might have got a job where you're involved in the serving of chicken and meat which is not حلال on that base level you know you're serving it to a group of people who themselves deem it as lawful you know and you know it's unlawful that's on the base level then after that comes pork and then after that comes alcohol in terms of prohibitions so you'll find that okay someone says to you I'm serving chicken I'm serving meat I'm serving beef but that which is not necessarily حلال you might say okay I'm living in this non-Muslim country and this is something which they know is lawful which I know is unlawful but for them it's lawful I'm serving at للكتاب yeah then pork with pork you have major issue when it comes to being the person who is actually selling pork but then you know some will bring in the odd concept of some might bring in some sort of I'm taking the money back from the non-Muslim that's a classic argument for a lot of things actually but yeah they use that for interest they use that for so many other things banking and mortgage and so on and you know especially in the finance world so when it comes to pork for example again there is a great amount of discretion to be taken when you're looking at Islamic law as to the selling of pork and helping pork being sold but when it comes to alcohol alcohol is a major no-go area there is hardly any loophole that anyone can find when it comes to you being someone who's picking up the alcohol serving the alcohol distributing the alcohol washing the dishes for the alcohol as well that was actually my next question in regards to washing the dishes you've made clear that alcohol is completely prohibited but for example let's say the pork if someone was forced to wash the dishes and for example a dish of pork came through but do they say excuse me no they can wash it there's no harm with you washing it but being part as I said there's a difference between the laws when it comes to pork and alcohol where there is a lot of prohibition in both of them but alcohol definitely in all accounts but when it comes to that washing of the dishes one may argue that when it comes to it your job is to just whatever dishes I bought to you you wash them you make sure that you wash the dishes given to people to eat what about food like rabbit or frog in many cultures they do eat these animals is it permissible to serve this food to those who find it permissible yes no problem no problem at all rabbit or frog we have in in in in in some of the madhabs of other schools in Islam rabbit is allowed in terms they find that there are Christians who may eat frogs or frog legs those people who deem it as permissible there's no harm of serving them let's remind the viewers that they can call in for this part of the show in 0203 5 150 199 please call in the numbers on the screen your questions will be directed straight to the say insha'Allah say now I have a question here is it permissible to eat which has been steam cooked with the steam of the meat is not slotted to Islamic laws it's Allah it has a as a problem with that because the wetness will have an effect on the on the Halal food so it's generally not allowed and do you have to for example if you go to a restaurant remember one thing there's a major principle and that is 100% certainties Islamic law doesn't work with 99% 100% 100% certainties if a person turns around and says I'm 99% certain that I saw that person there with their with their wet hands touched the food and they are not 99% doesn't work it's all 100% certainties so even on questions like this if you're 100% certainty that you know the steam of this dish the wetness came onto the Halal dish then you cannot if there is uncertainties then it's okay you know things like that when and check don't really work in Islamic law when it comes to conclusions there's a question here on fasting and I've thought this to myself a few times as well why specifically Ramadan we have to fast and what's how does it benefit to us physically to fast in this month for 30 days well I think that you know every law on the religion of Islam is for the growth and the development and the evolution of the human being if you're looking at the laws of prayers for example why did God make prayer obligatory I could easily pray at the end of the night but I know if Salah is not obligatory I am praying let me you know I'll be frank if Salah was not Wajib I'm not praying if you tell me Salah is Mustahab you tell me that you can pray if you want to none of us are praying the reason we pray is because we recognize at the beginning that our Lord has asked us our Lord everything he asked from us is wise it's for our benefit at the beginning we may have prayed out of fear of hell then we prayed because we wanted jannah heaven but then we prayed because we found that Allah has given us so much it's worth bowing down our heads and saying thank you fasting if you told someone if you want to in Shahr Ramadhan in Shahr Ramadhan if you want to fast I guarantee you none of us would do it you're telling me from Fajr until Maghrib in London you're expecting me to fast 18 hours you'll have people going nuts they're like no chance when it was obligatory we recognized hold on God has always given us laws with wisdom behind them it's obligatory when I first start doing it I'm doing it maybe out of fear of parents maybe out of fear of out of fear of God community but then how much you realize in the pangs of hunger when you're fasting how much you realize how fortunate you are the whole year you can buy any meal you want and yet there are people in the world who have to go through this Ramadhan effect virtually every day in their life me and you can literally order a meal at any second I want pizza I'm phoning pizza I'm phoning I want chicken I want Chinese I want Italian I want Mexican I want Indian I want all of the dishes I want Arab Lebanese whatever all these dishes I want them one phone call one app one delivery it's in my house in the Holy month of Ramadhan I realize how fortunate and blessed I am that when I'm just feeling some hunger how is that those in certain villages in Africa in India in South America in the Middle East cannot look forward to even a meal as luxurious as ours I was flabbergasted in the work that I do with the Zahra Trust in my position as special ambassador we meet a lot of orphans a lot of widows in different countries and I was flabbergasted when I saw that chicken is a luxury for some families in Iraq today meat is a luxury you need to have a bit extra money to be able to have meat for the house for us right now at this moment if we said that we can go out anyway we'll have a meal we don't even think twice about it we even mock the quality of a meal even if it's 50 pounds 100 pounds 300 pounds you'll mock it and be like well you know it's all right there are people out there have never had that honor the Holy month of Ramadhan humbles the human being when you're fasting number 2 you need to give that stomach a rest or they'll mind you the way Muslims break their iftar the stomach got no rest I remember in Iraq when I was there last year when I was looking at how people break their fast in Iraq I never seen human beings built mountains on their food you actually saw people go to the buffet they came back with like a mountain and the aim of fasting wasn't for you to suddenly eat that much when you break your fast but rather how can I now balance a spiritual physical healthy life Imam عليبنا بطابع عليه السلام you look at the words of his never finish a meal full don't finish a meal where you're in a state where you're feeling heavy that brings laziness lethargicness leave a certain amount of space move on to the next meal you see some of our people when they're fasting it's unbelievable and then knocked fully knocked now الحمد لله God is so merciful that he says in the holy month of Ramadhan even your sleep is a form of worship let's not judge these people maybe they're eating so they can sleep easier very true and so you have that you have another spiritual dimension to fasting and that is where I recognize that I'm trying to save up my energy to serve Allah سبحانه وتعالى in that month so the holy month of Ramadhan is amazing the blessing it brings the smiles it brings the unity it brings it's a remarkable month and when you're looking at scientific studies in the world today how many studies are telling us you stay away from food for certain hours you fast two days a week and the holy prophet Mohammed peace be upon him his family for example told us Mondays and Thursdays trying fast for example you should fast the 13th and 14th and 15th of every month it's as if you fasted the whole month the religion of Islam with fasting speaks about fasting in such depth that when people today are going to all the nutritionist and dietitians and going to all their doctors looking for advice every doctor is coming back saying what fast fast fast a couple of days in a week fast and yet you find the beauty of the religion has already spoken about this 1400 years ago yeah and now it's coming up a lot of people don't really think about this they don't think about the eating habits of رسول الله and the البيت they don't think about the sleeping habits these are very important things that we can apply in our life so my question is do we know what the eating habits were I know you mentioned for example fasting on certain days of the week but for example what foods would they eat how much would they eat in which portion I always look back at one particular night and that was the night of the martyrdom of Imam Ali عليه السلام and do you remember the conversation where his daughter brings him food and he turns around to her and he says when have you known me to eat so much and you know when someone says that to you you think the meal must be تمان قيمة تمان باتنجان تمان تجاج وفسجون وسبزي and all these Iraqi dishes that our Iraqi viewers will know and خبز لحم I'm going to mention خبز لحم because that's probably the only Iraqi thing of all those dishes that I mentioned I think خبز لحم is our creation it's like our our unique achievement in in the Iraqi world but you think it's this really grand meal and you're reading the narrations of like yogurts a bit of bread a bit of onions you know when you look at Imam Ali's life generally it's very and it's not you know when you look at his life and you see that the only bread the unhealthy bread that people eat is always a soft white true but what's the healthy bread that people eat is the brown the brown bread and Imam Ali was known that the bread that he'd eat very hard to break and that isn't that white soft bread that white soft bread easy but the dietician say to you have brown bread Imam Ali therefore when you're hearing about his prowess on the battlefield Ali is asking for it Ali is asking for it اخوة خندخ خابر خ ونين جامل صفين نهروان لا ب儿 no chance that the man was an unhealthy man the man's food intake was a disciplined food intake there was a recognition of natural food of organic food and that is just one of the many indications of the eating habits of the cigarette but one thing about the Henelbate as well is that لن يفهموا أن يتعطونه أفضل كما أعرف أنني أتعطي مع الناس عندما يتعطونك أفضل أو أفضل عندما يقولون أن يتعطونك أفضل أو أفضل يتحصلون أفضل لكي لا تأخذوا منهم فقط أخذوا الأمر وكذلك وكذلك وكذلك وكذلك وكذلك أنت تتحدث عن أفضل وكذلك لقد أخذوا منهم لقد أحبت أفضل ويطعمون الطعام على حبه أنت تعلم لن أخذوا أفضل للمحب من الله أخذوا أفضل لقد أحبت أخذوا أفضل ليس سيئا ليس سيئا لأحد يجب أن أخذوا أفضل التي تحصلون لكن there is this wonderful spirituality where I can give away ويؤثرون على أنفسهم ولو كان بهم خصاصة أخذنا أخذنا أعلم أن يكون هناك دولة أفضل لكننا نحن نتحدث عنها السلام عليكم كيف تسمعين وين أنت تخبرون من السبب وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله أنا مرتزا من إندية بانجلور نحن نحب الناس بانجلور هناك الكثير من الشيعة أفضل العمل هنا ومعادات أمور أفضل العمل لإضاف العمل أرجوك أن تقوم بأخذك سلام عليكم شكرا لك سلام لكي أعلم أنك تقوم بأخذك أخذنا أفضل أخذنا أخذنا أخذنا لأننا نتحدث عن السبب لأننا نحن نشاهد لدينا أسئل عندما تأخذ الناس نحن نتحدث نعرف بأننا نتحدث بأننا نتحدث لأننا نحن نتحدث لذلك when we go to a restaurant they say the meat is not halal and they serve pork but if we have to eat veg over there for some reason is it okay to eat knowing the people who handle our food or also the people who handle the meat which is not halal or not just thank you as I said not all the Marajah say that that food which is prepared by non-ahle al-kitab non-people of the pork is prohibited not all Marajah there are Marajah who have no problem with a person eating food which is not from the people of the book many think that eating the food of the people who are not people the book is completely prohibited in the shia ilaw or the shia illegal system this is not true secondly if you have a place which is selling pork not selling halal food but just down the road three shops down the road there is a place which is selling halal meat for example or halal food then you shouldn't really be in a situation of difficulty you should just go to that other place however also sometimes you are obliged someone brings you a nice sweet dish or vegetable dish who is not from the people of the book but they bring it to you and it is a gift it is not akhlaq to reject this food you know some people will turn around and say no I will never eat it is on the conscience some soft hearted human being there is no issue there سنتم سيدنا we do have a few more questions but unfortunately we are coming towards the end of our show so thank you for helping us answer a lot of these questions my pleasure which is going to save a lot of arguments next time we go to a couple of restaurants in London insha'Allah but on that note I would like to thank you all the viewers for tuning in for sending us your questions for calling in insha'Allah we will see you in the next episode and we will continue with more writes hopefully insha'Allah with Dr. Salaman Akshawani but for now we thank him we thank you and we say السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته