 Hello, my name is Ann Smith and this is Perspectives. It's a television show conceived a little over a year ago here at CTN 5. On this program I interview the unique people that I encounter in my daily life around Portland and I bring them here because I believe we all have an unusual or personal message that we don't share with each other on a daily basis. We have rather mundane and superficial conversations and we deny each other opportunities to learn about the things that really matter. My guest today is Fauzi Al-Sharif. He is here visiting his son who was my guest on my first four programs. Fauzi's English is limited and so he will be answering my questions in Arabic while his son translates in a voiceover. You can also listen to the entire program in Arabic with Ali translating my English questions and Fauzi's answers played back. Good morning. Good morning. Fauzi, could you introduce yourself to our audience? First I would like to introduce myself. I am an Arab citizen from Iraq. I used to work as an engineer in the Iraqi Army. I left the active service in 1996. My Iraq was a general in the Iraqi Army. The first question that came to my mind after the U.S. occupation of Iraq or some other like to call it liberation is Muslims are killing each other and why this sectarian partying among Islamic groups which led to the destruction of Iraqis and brought them lots of tragedies. This pushed me to a modest but prudent reading of the Quran and Islamic Sharia. I found that there is no connection at all between what is going on and what is written and documented in Quran and Islamic Sharia. Instead these criminal or terrorism acts derived their power from texts that were inserted upon Islamic Sharia and were not true-born texts of Islamic Sharia and some verses of Quran were taken and misplaced. And if we know that Islamic Sharia was written over 100 years after Prophet Muhammad's death, peace be upon him, we shall become aware that plenty of insinuation and distortion was inserted upon this Sharia to serve Caliph's interests to spread segregation among Muslims and non-Muslims. And if we look closely, we will find that Sharia equalizes between Muslims and non-Muslims. The Quran is a very long work and contains some contradictions of its own. Please explain to our audience who knows very little about your faith. Please explain how the Quran was written. After the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was inspired by Allah to be a messenger to the Muslims, the verses came down in a successive matter and not all at once. And the Prophet was as commonly known among many and illiterate who did not know how to read and write, so he relied on some of his companions to write the Quran. So the verses were written on one verse after another. Immediately after it was revealed, counter-controised to the Sharia, which as I just mentioned was written after 100 years. By the way, Islamic Sharia means the deeds and speeches of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. But the Quran was not collected as it is known now until the time of the third caliph of Muslims, Othman bin Affan. May Allah be pleased with him and the fear of the Quran being lost and scattered. So you have to explain to us how the Quran came to be written and you decided to study it in depth to answer your big question. How did you go about your study of the Quran? Through my reading of the Quran, which is modest and simple and my reading to the thinking and some of the speeches of someone called Ali bin Abi Talib, who became the fourth caliph, who was the fourth caliph and Prophet Muhammad's cousin, peace be upon him, and his son, Allah, I found that in the Holy Quran, Allah set a preference between among its verses. True, it is true that we as Muslims believe that all what Allah said or came from Allah is good, but Allah said in some of the verses, I preference among his verses. He said I preference among these verses. What I understand from Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him during his speech about the Holy Quran, his utterance that in the Quran, there were there are verses that are licensed to be abandoned that are licensed to be abandoned and other verses that are impermanent and verses that were obligatory at time. As an example to this, when we read the verse of the divorced in the chapter of the cow verse number two to eight, which I think it is possible to be to be abandoned and Muslims are licensed to abandon it. The verse which states divorced women remain in waiting for three periods and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wounds if they believe in Allah and the last day. Divorced women in Islam have to not get married, three menstruations and ten days had lapsed, which equalizes 100 days to the woman, so the woman is certain that she is not pregnant. But the scientific development which Allah commanded us to use has proven that the woman can ascertain whether she is pregnant or not in minutes through pregnancy testing. Like Allah permitted us to planes and cars and vehicles instead of using the cattle, so why not apply the scientific development to this verse to allow scientific science to take its actual magnitude in our ordinary lives. And also another example of the verse that were obligatory at their times and the Surah of Al-Nur, light, when Almighty Allah speaks about the male and female adulterer, the unmarried woman or unmarried man found guilty of sexual intercourse had lashed each one of them with a hundred lashes. We found that the messenger, peace be upon him, and his Sunnah, or Moors, we found, we find stoning that came after this verse and this Sunnah is still binding to Muslims and they have to implement it. But if we pay attention, in the farewell sermon, which was the last sermon that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, gave, when he exhorted about women, he said, O people, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your woman. And they also said that you have certain rights with regard to your woman and they also have rights over you. You have the right to not have them share your bed with others and not allow into your home someone who you do not like unless your permission is granted. And they should not commit obscenity if they do, then Allah has allowed you to have them refrain from it, not share the same bed with them or harmlessly beat them. If they do refrain and obey you, then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. We notice the Prophet's words, peace be upon him, that he did not point to neither the stoning nor the lashing. And when we look to the current positive laws available in many Islamic countries, these laws punish for adultery offenses in imprisonment and there is no stoning and no lashing, not only in some Islamic countries that allege their considerable or transcendental adherence to Islam. And you have said to me several times in our meetings that Sharia law is not part of the Quran, but I need to say here that I think most Americans' knowledge of Islam is not based on the Quran, but on Sharia law. How can you explain to our audience, again, that Sharia law and the Quran are not the same thing? In addition to what has been presented and through my reading of the Holy Quran, Allah has set a preference among his verses. He said in his Holy Quran in the Surah of Al-A'raf, verse number 145 in the name of Allah the Most Merciful, and we wrote for him on the tablets something of all things, instructions and explanations for all things. Take them with determination and order your people to take the best of it. I will show you the home of the Torah is the word of Allah and all of what came is good. Allah commands His Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, to say to the Jews to take the best of what came in these tablets. And this means that the presence of a good in one place does not know the presence of a better in a later time. What is right in a particular time may not be so. In another time. Also, it came in the Surah of Al-Zumr, verse number 18. Allah directs the speech to the mindful people or the people of understanding when he says in the name of Allah the Most Merciful, who listen to the speech and follow the best of it. Those are the ones Allah has guided, and those are people of understanding. I repeat that all of what is mentioned in the Quran is the word of Allah, and it is the good speech. But why don't we ask ourselves why Allah is saying to us to follow the best of what came down in the verses? Isn't it the logic to contemplate and ponder and conduct a careful reading to understand that in the Quran are verses that came down and at a certain time and to address a certain event, which may longer become contemporary, and the verses impact is finished at its time. And also, in the Surah of Al-Zumr, verse number 55, Almighty Allah says addressing all Muslims in the name of Allah the Most Merciful, and follow the best of what was revealed to you from your Lord. I re-emphasize that Allah emphasizes the principle of the good and the better and the preference in his verses. We as Muslims believe that all of what came in the Torah and but the Bible and the Quran is the word of Allah, and it is the good speech. But we have to try to read what is these holy books in a way that is not necessarily identical to how the people have preceded us read them. There is a saying to the Imam Abu Hanifa Al-Naman, who said, they are men, and we are men. So who interpreted the Quran and Prophet Sunnah is human. And just like him, we are also humans. So we may have circumstances and social situations that are not necessarily identical to what was the case 1400 years ago. So where is the harm when we organize our lives in accordance to what pleases Allah and according to what our lives require? I don't see any harm in this. If we read the Surah of Al-Ma'idah, we find in verse 82 in the context of respecting religions and the name of Allah, the most merciful. You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers, the Jews and those who associate others with Allah. And you will find the nearest of them and the affection to the believers, those who say we are Christians. That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant. This verse came at a certain time when the Jews had a conflicting position toward Islam, toward Islamic call, and toward the Prophet Muhammad peace This verse came at a certain time when the Jews had a conflicting position toward Islam. But in another position in the Holy Quran, we find the following verse in the Surah of Al-A'raf, verse 159, it says in the name of Allah, the most merciful. And among the people of Moses is a community which guides by truth and by established peace. It is my few points so we can coexist with others and to accept them and they accept us in this world that the language of kindness and love and tolerance prevails among people and religious. I modestly prefer this verse that says that came in the Surah of Al-A'raf or the verse that came in the Surah of Al-Maidah. And another example in the context of punishment, for example, in the Surah of Al-Baqarah, verse number 178 says in the name of Allah, the most merciful, all you who have believed prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered. For the free, the slave for the slave and the female for the female. And this verse as it is clear distinguishes among humans, distinguishes among the slaves and the free and the female. And the community at that time was a male-dominated community and a community that had slaves and the Prophet Muhammad was unable to change the situation from one to another in a short period of time. But we find another verse in the Quran, which I call a future verse, which calls for a non-discrimination among the people. In the Surah of Al-Maidah, it says in the name of Allah, the most merciful. Because of that, we decree upon the children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul or for a morality, and the land it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one, as if he had saved mankind entirely. This verse stands in contradiction with the previous verse. The previous verse touches upon the free and the slave and the woman. And this verse equalizes among people, equalizes the souls, whether a free or a slave or a female. And as to the human level, as an application and an early language and an early talk about the equality of people, I remember a speech of Omar bin al-Khattab. May Allah be pleased with him, who was the second caliph of the Muslims when he said, when did you enslave the people and their mothers gave birth to them as free? Can anyone say that Omar did not witness the Prophet and did not understand the Quran and did not know of the presence of verses in the Quran that differentiate between the free and the slave? So why did he utter this speech? Isn't it an early call to surpass the language of differentiation among people? For many Americans, I think there is great confusion. They think that Sharia law and the Quran are the same thing. Please explain how Sharia law is not part of the Quran. Islamic Sharia or the Muhammadi Sharia is complementary to the Holy Quran, but it is not the Quran. Allah Almighty gave an authority to the Prophet to Prophet Muhammad and said in a verse in the Surah of Al-Hashir, verse number seven, take whatever the Apostle gives you and relinquish whatever he forbids you, which means that the Muhammadi Sharia, which represents the speeches and deeds and practices and the behavior of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is mandatory to Muslims. All of the speeches and the deeds of the Prophet are mandatory to Muslims. That is, the Muhammadi Sharia, which represents the speeches and the actions and practices and the behavior of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is mandatory to Muslims. This noble verse opened the door for too many allegations on the Prophet and the Islam to initiate and insert speeches that have no connection neither to Islam nor to humanity in service of the Sultan or the ruler or the Caliph and to give him an immoral power upon all peoples and also to further the overall inserts of those rulers. People in general, when a speech or a deed is attributed to the Prophet, peace be upon him, Muhammad, people are obligated to believe in it and adhere to it. These individuals used to insert speeches to the Muhammadi Sharia or to the Prophet's speeches and attribute them to the Prophet, some of which were even immoral ones and have no connection, as I have just said, indicated to humanity. For example, they attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, that he killed war captives. But the reality of the situation provides otherwise. The Prophet in one of the battles asked or commanded if we so prefer to say, the captives who are literate, that each one of them teaches 10 illiterate Muslims how to read or write and then he sent them free. This is at the level of the Muhammadi Sharia. It was revealed in the noble Quran and the matter of dealing with war captives in the surah of Muhammad, verse number four, either oblige them or take ransom. Either oblige them by setting them free or take ransom. This means that you either be generous with the captives and set them free or either you conduct captive exchange in the case when you have captives of your own and with the enemy so you exchange one captive with another or you take ransom. And the Quran did not mention about killing the war captives or herring them. But this matter of killing was founded by the individuals who allege or the people who are known as the clerks of Islam. Most of the Islamic doctrines allowed the killing of war captives and allowed their enslavement. Nonetheless, neither this killing nor this enslavement exists neither in Quran nor in the surah of the Prophet. So how did they come up with this unless it was to place the rulers? The problem also is that too many of the Muslim countries that adhere to some of these Islamic doctrines are signatories to the Geneva Conventions in the matter of dealing with war captives. And they issue statements, for example, if we read the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam that was issued in Cairo on August 5th, 1990, we find that we find in the matter of dealing with war captives, as it says in provision number three, that the war captive has the right to be fed, housed and clothed. And it is forbidden to disfigure the dead and there must be an exchange of war captives. But this statement is nice as a statement. But on application level, these countries do not work on filtering the Islamic doctrines that they adhere to from the way that addressed how to deal with war captives because the human being naturally, when the spiritual guidance contradicts with the state's directive, may lean toward the spiritual guidance that he derives from the doctrine that he adheres to, leads him to kill the war captive. And in this case, he forgets the convention and his state is a signatory to the matter of war captives. In the Bible, the connection between Judaism and Christianity, the first two Abrahamic religions, is clearly stated. And Islam is considered the third in Judaism. The Old Testament says very clearly that God's first commandment is to remember that God is one, love the Lord, your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength. And this is in Deuteronomy. In Leviticus 19, the second part, you shall not rake vengeance or bear grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. And then in the New Testament, Jesus says again these same commandments. For Christians, they're in Matthew or Mark. And he says, Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Are there similar verses in the Quran which are the basis of the Abrahamic ethics? What does Allah want us to do? What is the connection between Islam, Christianity and Judaism? Islam, as I believe, is an extension to the Abrahamic religions that preceded it, such as Judaism and Christianity. It is revealed in the Noble Quran when Allah sent His prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, to the people of Israel, that he said, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, in the Surah of Al-Imran, verse number 90, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Gracious, to confirm the truth of that which is before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of the things that were forbidden for him. This is the speech of Jesus, peace be upon him, to the people of Israel. And some of the mandates that were revealed in the Quran are taken from the Torah. This proves that it is an extension to the rest of the religions. From these verses I mentioned earlier, two of them. The verse that says, prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered, for the slave, for the slave. These mandates came in the Torah. Also, the verse, whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for a morality in the land, this verse was revealed to the people of Israel, but is also applicable in Islam. Nonetheless, there are some observations that are not to set preferences among the religions. Came in Islam was progressive in comparison to previous legislations. And I repeat, the aim is not to set preference among religions. All of them are God religions and their source is Almighty Allah. If we take women's rights in Islam, for example, two verses were revealed that addressed women's testimony in the Quran. The first address is relationships and contracts in which women's testimony equals half of a man's testimony. But in another verse that was revealed in the Quran, we find that the testimony of the woman equals the testimony of four men in a case when she is accused of adultery. So, her testimony equals four men's testimonies when she wants to defend herself. And here I return to the topic of the good and the better in the Quran. I lean toward this verse that equalizes between a man with a woman or equalizes a woman with men. And I prefer over verses that consider a woman's testimony in half of a man's testimony. And in our current situation, we find that a woman's testimony in many instances and offenses in situations is reliable and it is not deemed half of a man's testimony. So, this testimony that recognized the woman in Islam, we find in Judaism, for example, a woman's testimony does not have significance unless in special events. And we find in another verse that women's inheritance in Islam from her father is half of what her brother inherits. And she is also legally entitled to inherit from her husband. So, she inherits from her father and from her husband, but this case almost does not exist in other Abrahamic religions. And I repeat, this is not to say preferences, but because the religious are an extension to each other. Just like the Quran took from the Torah some mandates, it came with mandates new to Torah and new to Bible. They were not referenced neither in the Torah nor in the Bible. Christians have disagreed as within your faith. They have disagreed about practices of the church. I'm thinking in particularly of the selling of indulgences to purchase forgiveness for sins. And there is nothing in our Bible. Nothing Christ said that said we were allowed to do this or were encouraged to do this. And in fact, our religious beliefs as a group changed dramatically when the Bible became available as the Quran has always been. To be read by people who were of the Christian faith. Unfortunately, the Bible has been translated so many times. It's difficult to determine what the original word of God was. Another thing I notice in a difference, however, is that Christianity has always had a tone of being exclusive. That is, we set ourselves apart from those who don't believe in what we believe in or in the divine nature of Christ. And I understand from talking with you that Islam has always been more open-minded and the Quran supports religious pluralism. Please tell us where we find this support for religious pluralism in the Quran. Religious pluralism is of the givens that were referenced in the Noble Quran and of the clear facts. So for example, Prophet Moses' peace be upon him was referenced in the Quran one sixty-three times. And the Prophet of Allah Jesus was referenced sixty times in his name or under the name of his mother, Virgin Mary, peace be upon her. Yet Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was referenced four times. And there are many verses that confirm this pluralism and obligate the Muslims to believe in those religions. And if he forfeits this obligation, he no longer becomes a Muslim. And the verse, for example, number four of Surah Al-Baqarah would say, in the name of Allah, the most merciful and most gracious. And those who believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you and are certain of her after. The speech is direct to Prophet Muhammad from Allah. The who believe in you as a prophet must believe in the prophets who preceded you. Another example in another verse, in the name of Allah, the most merciful and most gracious. Surah Al-Baqarah verse number one three six say, we have faith in Allah and that which has been sent down to us. And that which was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the tribes. And that which Moses and Jesus were given and that which the prophets were given from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them and to him do we submit. This verse is very clear that all religions are equal and all prophets and messengers are equal. Say, we believe in Allah and that which was sent down to us and that which was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the tribes. And that which Moses and Jesus were given and that which the prophets were given from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them and to him do we submit. Indeed among the people of the book there are surely some who have faith in Allah and in what has been sent down to you and what has been sent down to them. Accordingly, the matter is binding to our religions from the perspective of Quran that our religions believe in what was revealed to Muhammad and on the followers of Muhammad's peace be upon him to believe and what came down to the other prophets peace be upon them before him. And in verse of Surah An-Nisa, verse number 136, all you who have faith, have faith in Allah and his Apostle. The book that he has sent down to his Apostle and the book that he had sent down earlier. Whoever disbelieves in Allah and his angels, his books and his Apostles and the last day has certainly strayed into far era. So whoever disbelieves from our perspective as Muslims in Judaism or in Christianity is one who is stray human, who does not know the right way because they are all Abrahamic religions that Allah recommended that we respect. And in another verse, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Gracious, those who disbelieve in Allah and his Apostles and seek to separate Allah from his Apostles and say we believe in some and disbelieve in some and seek to take away in between, take away in between, it is they who are truly faithless and we have prepared for the faithless a humiliating punishment. But those who have faith in Allah and his Apostles and make no distinction between any of them, then he will soon give their rewards and Allah is all forgiving, all merciful. I think that this last verse, for example, has enough clarity for us to understand that equality among prophets and religions is a matter that is a given in the Quran and in Islamic Sharia. And in the Surah of Al-Ankabut verse number 64, which obligates the Muslims, it says in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Gracious, do not dispute with the people of the Book except in a manner which is best, barring such of them as our wrongdoers and say we believe in that which has been sent down to us and has been sent down to you, our God and our God is one. And to him do we submit. And this verse we can say does not have less clarity than the ones that preceded it. That is necessary to deal with and work with our brothers of other faiths except in a manner which is best. And the necessity to believe in what was revealed to them and the necessity that they believe in what was revealed to us as Muslims. The manner that is of pluralism we find in Islam, some verses that exceed many perceptions. Islam does not mandate others to follow it and does not obligate anyone to be a Muslim. And the necessity of believing in what was revealed to us as Muslims. And the matter is that the pluralism we find in Islam, some verses that exceed many perceptions. And the necessity to be practiced upon him. We could cite some verses of Quran, verses of Quran that support this. And protecting religions freedom, religious freedom in the Surah of Al-Baqarah verse 156. There is no compulsion religion. Restitude has become distinct from error. Which means there is no coercion or compulsion among anyone to embrace a certain principle or religion. And what is happening now of images that are distorting, Islam has no connection to Islam such as enslavement or forcing people to embrace Islam. Islam is a religion of grace, clarity and peace. And in another verse from the Surah of An-Nisa verse number 137. As for those who believe and then disbelieve, then believe again and then disbelieve and then increase in disbelief. Allah shall never forgive them nor shall he guide them to anyway. Who is this person who believes, who disbelieves and disbelieves, believes and disbelieves. He is the person who embraces a certain religion, then disbelieves in it. Whether he is a Jewish, Muslim or Christian. So when we talk about Islam, specifically whoever is a Muslim and then disbelieves in it is up to Allah to sanction him. And it is not up to any human to sanction him. And in another verse in the Surah of Al-Imran verse 90, it says in the name of Allah, the most gracious and most merciful. Indeed those who turn faithless after their faith and then advance in faithlessness, their repentance will never be accepted and it is they who are the astray. And in another verse of the Surah of Al-Kahf verse 29 and say, this is the truth from your Lord. Let anyone who wishes, believe it and let anyone who wishes disbelieve it. The path is clear and evident. Whoever wants to believe in Allah, the manner is optional and whoever does not want to, the matter is optional. And the judgment is up to Allah and not up to humans. And the account is up to Allah, not up to anything. And as an example, the last and the last one is about the displeasure in Islam. And one other and last example about the tolerance in Islam, it comes to my mind, his speech to Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. He had the most knowledge and is known after the Prophet Muhammad. He said to one of his aldermen, when he dispatched him to rule Egypt, when he was the caliph of the Muslims, he was their fourth caliph. He said to him to deal with people in two categories. He said, people are of two kinds, either your brothers in faith or your equals in humanity. Egypt was newly annexed by the hands of Muslims. It had Jews, it had Christians, it had people who did not worship Allah but Ali bin Abi Talib made Allah be pleased with him. Obligated the aldermen who he sent not to deal with people on the basis of skin color or belief or sex or any other discriminatory form among the humans. And he considered them in two types, either Muslims just like you are or a human whom Allah created just like he created you. This is all I can say about humanity of Islam and its acceptance. Fawzi, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for being my guest. I know one thing or other that we talked about that you said you would like to leave this. What would you like to leave as your final message to our audience? I believe you said it was a song. A lot. And I remember here on the way of the example. A song. It was called, The Kiss by each other a lot. And I remember here as an example of a very wonderful singer, Afeefa Skander. And she wrote the lyrics of the song. The song is called, The Kiss by each other a lot. The one that always made us sing, is a Jewish musician. Notice her attitude and an understanding that gibi is all commitment between a Muslim and a Christian and a Jewish musician. It wasn't a muslim folk song. Her acting all as a Jewish musician. And in this community, they give a nice impression of the acceptance of each other, a song that is gathered between the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Which one is this? And this is the song that says, The name of the song is Allah, if you listen carefully. Thank you very much. Thank you. Who is this? At the end of this simple and clear effort, I hope for those who are interested in religious support, from all aspects of accepting one another. A song that is gathered between the Jews and the Christians and the Muslims. There are many interpretations of the Qur'an and the Shari'ah of Islam. And they try to cover this Shari'ah, the Shari'ah of Muhammad, of many of the things that are included in it, and that are covered with any human understanding. Thank you very much. Next. Without the name? Without the name? Without the name? Without religious interpretations. I want to thank you again for coming. Thank you very much. And thank you to my audience. I hope that you learned some important things from this program. As I said at the beginning, you will be able to hear it broadcast in English with a translation of Fauzi's speeches in the background and also in Arabic with my speeches translated into Arabic. So that both of the audiences that I know we enjoy here in the Portland area can enjoy this. Thank you very much.