Self Representation in Modern Western Society | Sayyid Sulayman Hasan

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Lecture by Respected Sayyid Sulayman Hasan on Self Representation in Modern Western Society on 12/27/2012 during the 29th Annual Conference in Chicago, IL, USA hosted by the Muslim Group of USA and Canada.

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Transcript

[0:07]I'd like to begin by apologizing to all of you for being

[0:12]slightly late uh at the beginning of this Workshop inshallah we'll make

[0:15]up for it by talking faster and hopefully we'll get through all

[0:20]the material that we need to uh I'd like to also uh

[0:21]say Salam especially to our Scholars who are present and I'd also

[0:24]like to request you please to to come forward inshallah we'll be

[0:29]able to benefit from uh uh our other Scholars as well during

[0:34]the course of our discussion so anything that uh that I say

[0:37]that you would like to add to comment on please consider yourself

[0:41]to be also uh sharing the responsibility of conducting the workshop uh

[0:47]with me please please come forward then please from that place uh

[0:52]do participate and and add your guidance and also Chef if you

[0:56]would like to do that as well uh now just to be

[1:01]able to see all of you better I'm going to apologize to

[1:03]those of you who are sitting in front I know that I'm

[1:06]a little taller than normal and some of you are next May

[1:10]uh get strained having to look up at me but I want

[1:11]to be able to see everybody so I'm going to stand up

[1:14]for at least a portion of the workshop and I'd like to

[1:21]actually begin with a few questions and then inshallah we will end

[1:25]the workshop with a question answer session where you will be able

[1:28]to ask any questions that you may have the question that I

[1:34]would like to begin with is what does it mean in a

[1:40]practical sense or a theoretical sense for us to say that Islam

[1:45]is a religion of balance when it comes to our spirituality when

[1:53]it comes to our worship and our devotion our when it comes

[2:00]to our interaction ctions with non-muslims in general many Muslims have had

[2:03]it beaten into our hearts and our minds and our souls that

[2:10]Islam is a religion of balance we understand that we believe in

[2:15]it intellectually and in some cases we may even have examples from

[2:21]our religious teachings we have examples from uh the lives of the

[2:26]prophet and the imams that show us that balance but we don't

[2:32]always have a good idea of the dynamic nature of that balance

[2:37]and so it becomes somewhat trit it becomes somewhat superficial for us

[2:42]to say that Islam is a religion of balance what I mean

[2:44]by that is that we Define for ourselves an extreme that these

[2:51]groups of non-muslims for example some of them go too far in

[2:54]One Direction and some of them go too far in the other

[2:58]direction and we are in the middle and it's always possible for

[3:02]any individual or for any group of people to say that wherever

[3:08]we are this is the happy medium and extremes are defined by

[3:14]distance from where we are so therefore that Medium state or that

[3:21]balance is not something that moves us dynamically in a certain direction

[3:26]but it's simply a way for us to relate to other people

[3:30]sometimes constructively and sometimes not so constructively so I want to hear

[3:36]from the members of our audience that what practical examples do you

[3:44]have that well for example when it comes to celebrating holidays when

[3:47]it comes to uh wayfaring on a spiritual path when it comes

[3:51]to worship when it comes to uh finances any area of life

[3:57]that's relevant to you that Islam is a religion of balance and

[4:00]here is how that balance is defined or on a theoretical level

[4:04]how are we to understand what it means for us to discover

[4:09]that balance those of you who who are courageous enough to share

[4:17]your insights or perhaps questions that you may have in that regard

[4:21]uh please uh raise your hand and join in the conversation you

[4:30]will regret not ra raising your hands and having me talk monotonously

[4:33]through the entire course of the workshop don't subject yourselves to that

[4:38]fate does anybody have any examples sure do we have an extra

[4:49]microphone for the audience members or I can ask the brothers to

[4:51]see can get one at the moment sure or well those of

[4:59]you who are close I can give you the microphone actually so

[5:03]islamically I think if something is balanced it's not just a benefit

[5:07]to the individual but also to the community so when we think

[5:13]about balance in Islam it's not just about um going to Extremes

[5:15]in terms of like only serving the community but also serving yourself

[5:18]or it's not just about serving only yourself it's also about doing

[5:21]things that are of benefit to others okay was a very very

[5:32]good comment to begin with uh that one of the dimensions that

[5:38]we can use in Islam to discover what is balance is that

[5:42]it should be comprehensive uh in its uh standards uh we live

[5:47]in a society that is very individualistic when people think of Enlightenment

[5:51]when people think of advancement when people think of right and wrong

[5:57]the first standard that comes to mind is is often the individual

[6:05]and the effects of an action on Society at large are often

[6:08]not taken into consideration or not appreciated even on a very material

[6:13]Level let alone the effects of our actions on a spiritual level

[6:18]the effects of our actions on history on uh the impression that

[6:26]people will have of Muslims if I do something then you are

[6:29]not going to say that h who has that biography did this

[6:32]many of you will say that a scholar who was trained in

[6:35]K who studied with these teachers who works in this Islamic Center

[6:41]did this and so that will reflect on where I teach that

[6:43]will reflect on where I study it might reflect for many people

[6:49]on shiaism as a whole it might reflect on Islam for many

[6:51]non-muslims or even for many Muslims and each and every one of

[6:54]us also has those groups that we are a part of and

[6:58]we are responsible for the reputation that we give to ourselves that

[7:03]we bring for our families that we bring for our societies and

[7:10]for our religion and for our imams there are many Hadith in

[7:14]that regard the uh with respect to parents for example there is

[7:19]a Hadith that you should not be a person when you behave

[7:24]in society people will say did that mother never teach her son

[7:28]or her daughter manners and that is in fact one of the

[7:35]aspects of to parents that we are taught in the teachings of

[7:37]that is one of the forms of goodness or B to parents

[7:41]that we are to do whether our parents are alive or whether

[7:44]they are deceased to bring a good name to them that when

[7:48]people see us they say that well this person was raised right

[7:50]even if we weren't raised right even if we were raised by

[7:55]wolves but because people might not always know that we were raised

[7:57]in a jungle and they might give the credit to our parents

[7:59]it's an act of kindness to our parents there is also AI

[8:04]of that when you act in society recognize that people are going

[8:13]to say these are the companions or in our case not companion

[8:18]but the followers of the the IM the followers of we attribute

[8:23]ourselves to them and so if I say something if I do

[8:28]something it is going to reflect in people Minds on those to

[8:31]whom I am Affiliated and that is a responsibility that we have

[8:38]so one aspect of balance that we have in Islam is to

[8:41]understand the repercussions and the effects of our society on ourselves as

[8:45]individuals and on all of the other circles that we are influential

[8:49]in and those other circles should not be defined purely materially that

[8:55]is a point that comes from our religious ideology and our beliefs

[9:05]that we reflect not just on those recognizable groups that we are

[9:13]a part of but even on the air and the land that

[9:19]we reside on or in we reflect on those to whom we

[9:27]are connected with our beliefs so for example if there is a

[9:34]scholar a Pious person their company is something that will have a

[9:40]good effect on our soul even if we're not directly learning anything

[9:44]from them even if we are not actually doing anything being in

[9:51]a Masid not just by virtue of its psychological effect but by

[9:57]virtue of the collected sincerity and and the dedication that has been

[10:02]made of that land for the sake of worship of Allah and

[10:07]service of Allah being in that place has an effect on us

[10:09]that being in another place cannot have it doesn't really matter if

[10:16]we are spending that time actually doing Salat or reading Quran or

[10:21]doing something else entirely so this type of effect or this type

[10:25]of comprehensiveness which follows from what you were talking about it might

[10:27]actually have been exactly what you were referring to that is something

[10:32]that we as Muslims believe in even though we cannot always perceive

[10:36]it we don't always see how that reflects on us or how

[10:43]our performing our fuder prayer in a mid so that the mid

[10:46]flourishes even if nobody notices it even if it's not visible but

[10:54]it's something that makes a Masid flourish that is something that is

[10:58]uh an important thing and I want to uh just make a

[11:05]comment about the state of Islam in America some of the things

[11:07]that I say uh during the course of this Workshop I want

[11:12]them to be a challenge to habits that we have as individuals

[11:14]and as a Muslim Community I don't ask you to agree with

[11:23]everything that I say but I do ask that you take it

[11:24]and decide whether it's something that deserves further thought whether if you

[11:29]feel that needs an immediate rebuttal I would welcome that and please

[11:33]tell me that you think I am wrong for these reasons uh

[11:35]but think about some of these issues and see if maybe some

[11:40]of the things that are taking place within uh the Muslim Community

[11:43]in America are not issues that we can deal with more effectively

[11:48]in our own planning and in our own lives the example that

[11:54]I want to give is something that I've noticed most clearly in

[11:57]Islamic communities on the East Coast but it's something that probably exists

[12:02]uh in different parts of uh the the Islamic community in America

[12:10]and this is that people are often cynical with regard to Islamic

[12:17]centers they might have mass that are not run effectively or that

[12:25]have internal politics or people think they have internal politics or whatever

[12:29]the issues may be and so you have groups of Muslims who

[12:31]come together and they say that we're going to have a weekly

[12:34]program they might do a traditional program with the speech lecture ceremony

[12:41]of morning for IM Hussein they might do something a little bit

[12:45]less traditional another kind of activity maybe a book club whatever it

[12:48]is but they will do it outside of a Masid and when

[12:54]these types of activities begin they sometimes draw people who until now

[12:59]would go to Aid because in many ways this program is being

[13:05]done without the baggage that comes and if you have a mid

[13:08]there is baggage that must come even if you start it with

[13:12]the best of intentions a lot of money has to go in

[13:14]just to turn on the electricity there is often a certain formality

[13:20]of uh bylaws and the Constitution that are required in order to

[13:24]be recognized as a legal entity in the United States and that

[13:26]brings politics in even if it may not not be intended or

[13:31]it may not be intended to be a negative thing when these

[13:34]groups form they sometimes take people who until now were going to

[13:40]the mass because they find that this is something that is a

[13:45]lot more efficient it's kind of like what Amazon did to our

[13:48]poor deceased borders and perhaps soon to be deceased Barnes and Nobles

[13:56]right you don't have the the same fixed costs so you're able

[13:58]to offer a product sometimes more effectively and more cheaply and so

[14:02]more people will say that we'll browse the books at Barn and&

[14:07]noes but we'll buy them from Amazon that type of a dynamic

[14:12]has set in in certain cities in the United States in certain

[14:15]communities uh within our own Muslim experience in America and that is

[14:23]one of the issues of balance that we want to achieve as

[14:29]a Muslim Community and we don't have a great deal of models

[14:32]that we can look to from other religious communities and in some

[14:38]cases perhaps even from the Sunni Community within uh America because it's

[14:44]a different goal that we have but in trying to determine whether

[14:47]this is a problem and some people might say it's not a

[14:50]problem it's a good thing those Muslims deserve to Fall by the

[14:54]wayside and what's important is to have events and programs that can

[14:58]actually fulfill the needs of those people who are coming but then

[15:01]there are other effects that come on the side when we want

[15:06]to determine how big of a problem particular issue is like this

[15:10]problem that we just mentioned and what are potential Solutions the way

[15:13]that we are going to do that is by attuning ourselves more

[15:17]and more to what are the different areas that our actions can

[15:23]affect and do affect and what is the best way that we

[15:28]can affect all of those different areas conceivably again hypothetically it might

[15:33]be possible that I go to a Masid that is somewhat dysfunctional

[15:36]but with a view that over the next Generation over the next

[15:41]several Generations I want to have institutions that are flourishing that are

[15:47]bringing benefits not just to those who are interested in that particular

[15:50]activity that particular camp that particular uh activity but towards broader Society

[15:57]so that's one area that we will be looking at inshallah what

[16:03]other examples do we have of what it means to be balanced

[16:08]from an Islamic perspective it can be something very simple very TR

[16:12]what does Islam say about finances what does Islam say about uh

[16:17]about uh how to dress does anybody ever make a conscious decision

[16:24]when they go to purchase a new wardrobe that what would my

[16:30]Islamic values say about whether to choose this outfit or that outfit

[16:34]or when we are making our financial decisions you know do we

[16:39]ever have that question in our minds that while Islam wants us

[16:45]to not be materialistic and it wants us not to be uh

[16:47]you take a vow of poverty so how do we decide where

[16:53]to spend our money that's the kind of thing that whether we

[16:55]do it consciously or unconsciously all of us are faced with those

[17:02]types of decisions what to eat where to eat how to make

[17:04]decisions with regard to what kind of car to drive what kind

[17:08]of house to buy what kind of subjects to study in college

[17:10]what kinds of clothes to wear or to buy or to gift

[17:16]to other people so what for you has that balance M it

[17:19]doesn't have to be limited to these examples but any other examples

[17:23]that you might have go well for me when I'm shopping for

[17:26]clothes it has to be long has to be has to so

[17:35]modesty is an important aspect of dress and just as a reminder

[17:40]that is not just for sisters modest dress is a requirement in

[17:44]islamically for those who wish to be part of the Believers the

[17:52]Quran inah it says to the prophet that tell the believing men

[17:59]that they should lower low their gazes and that lowering of the

[18:02]Gaze is an indirect expression for modesty and for the believing women

[18:06]that they should also lower their gaze it starts with men that

[18:09]verse of the Quran or those two verses of Quran Surah n

[18:14]verse 30 and 31 they do mention a slight difference uh for

[18:21]men and women but the underwriting principle which is or lowering the

[18:26]Gaze or modesty that is shared for both men and women the

[18:29]difference is that for women there is the added expression that they

[18:36]should also take care that their finery or their adment are not

[18:40]exposed except that which is uh naturally exposed and commentaries of Quran

[18:46]explain what that is so man also should be considering modesty in

[18:52]choosing their clothes and that's something that unfortunately if you go to

[18:57]the average Muslim uh Gathering or mid you will find that our

[19:04]sisters of course they often bear the brunt and there is much

[19:08]improvement that is needed as a whole within the Muslim Community but

[19:10]also for our brothers when people are praying when they are interacting

[19:14]that type of uh modesty is often not found in our closure

[19:20]that's an aspect of uh the values that we should have and

[19:23]uh we can talk about how to achieve that balance in dressing

[19:27]modestly but also uh not being seen as the person who is

[19:36]simply wearing a formless shapeless and non a non-identifiable amount of clothing

[19:42]whether for a man or for a woman so that was a

[19:46]good comment and sister I think I saw somebody else with her

[19:51]hand pleas um the mors we have stru NE I'm going to

[20:01]try to hold this to prevent the interference the morals that we

[20:06]have they have more than just thoughts they have reasoning and structure

[20:09]behind them they have reasoning and structure behind them that's an important

[20:14]point the more we can understand the reasoning and the structure behind

[20:17]the teachings that we have from the imams the better we will

[20:21]be able to approach making decisions with regard to how to present

[20:29]ourselves within Society uh whether it be in a non-muslim society in

[20:31]America or in a Muslim Society if we ever are visiting before

[20:35]we living temporarily or for a long term Society is that from

[20:40]me or is that something else going chairman uh you were talking

[20:47]about balance right yes yeah an example of balance I think would

[20:50]be uh also an example of things that differentiate us as Muslims

[20:55]from other religions and SE which that we give individuals the right

[21:01]to examine our book the Quran and tell them this is our

[21:08]text we believe in but un you are welcome for I'm going

[21:20]to just mute this and see if maybe that sound stops can

[21:26]everybody still hear me yes if you can't hear me raise your

[21:28]hand okay I see a thumb up that means you can hear

[21:31]me that uh so uh can you please repeat that brother sorry

[21:34]no I was saying our uh example we can ex yes we

[21:39]we invite people to examine our books and tex but at the

[21:44]same time they have the right to investigate their own it whatever

[21:48]they abute and that's actually exactly the next point that I wanted

[21:55]us to move toward so thank you for that well time transition

[21:57]the next point that is needed actually is for us to understand

[22:02]once we have to have insight into what it means to be

[22:04]balanced balance should not simply be a means for me to say

[22:09]that well I'm mourn in muharam for two months and 8 days

[22:11]so it's a uh it's a very um uh extremely unworthy sh

[22:20]who only Mourns for the 10 days first 10 days of muharam

[22:24]they wear their shiism lightly and then it's extreme when people mourn

[22:29]the entire year and they never have any happy occasions if you

[22:34]tell them they will say well was also a day of sadness

[22:36]for our imams at many different times during their lives that extreme

[22:42]is defined by my preference and there might be somebody else who

[22:47]says that well uh to mourn for 10 days in muharam is

[22:53]balance to mourn for 2 months and 8 Days uh that does

[22:56]not have any Hadith to back it up that's extreme and to

[22:59]just mourn on a that is the lower extreme and so it's

[23:05]balanced to mourn for say 40 days until or to mourn for

[23:07]the first 10 days of muharam until as or whatever the case

[23:11]may be so the first point was that balance is for us

[23:14]to understand the comprehensive nature of the goals that Islam has for

[23:20]us to connect with those goals to understand that our values are

[23:22]not meant to be just rituals but they have a purpose behind

[23:27]them and the next point is for us to understand that as

[23:29]Muslims not only do we invite non-muslims to question and to argue

[23:39]and to debate but also we as Muslims have a right and

[23:43]more than a right an obligation to question and to uh try

[23:51]to work through certain Solutions and there is a problem with the

[23:54]religiosity that many of us are used to we might come from

[24:01]cultures that are topheavy or that are hierarchical and in some cases

[24:05]that topheavy or that hierarchical culture has influenced our understanding of Islam

[24:11]as well this is a point that again I want you to

[24:17]hear from me not asking you to agree with it but certainly

[24:19]it's something that I think is worthy of thought there's a story

[24:24]that I I tell frequently because I find it very enlightening Shah

[24:27]s was once asked by somebody about his view regarding smoking right

[24:33]now this is an area where uh many people have very strong

[24:40]opinions there was a time when many of our F had not

[24:42]issued clear fwa against smoking there was a time when many of

[24:48]our faha used to smoke themselves because at that time they weren't

[24:52]really aware of the the harmful health effects of it so for

[24:55]whatever reasons there were people who would often criticize very strongly why

[25:00]don't our F take a stronger stand against smoking and this evil

[25:07]will be removed from our society and not many of our F

[25:11]have issued uh different wordings fwa that explain the Islamic position on

[25:16]smoking and other things that are detrimental to a person's health or

[25:20]wasteful of resources and so on but the answer that Shahid s

[25:26]gave was something that actually returned the agency to the questioner rather

[25:33]than stripping the questioner of agency he said that does a person

[25:38]who knows what we now know as a society who has access

[25:43]to uh information about the harmful effects of smoking does that person

[25:48]really need to go and get a rubber stamp from a religious

[25:51]Authority in order to know that smoking is Haram or that they

[25:58]should not do so now the questioner may have asked as an

[26:01]individual most likely though the questioner was not somebody who actually wanted

[26:05]to smoke most likely the questioner was somebody who was saying that

[26:09]well in Naf or in Iraq we have so many people who

[26:13]smoke and if Shah s takes a stand against it then a

[26:17]lot of those people will be motivated to quit smoking and the

[26:21]answer was that what kind of a society is it that cannot

[26:28]make clear decisions or that requires crutch to make decisions that should

[26:33]be obvious to the individual there's several different harms that come from

[26:39]in the first place we will not be a society that is

[26:42]able to be a strength and a source of uh support for

[26:49]our religious leaders for our Mar if we are not able to

[26:52]think for ourselves if we don't have the agency and we don't

[26:57]know how to exercise that agency effectively number two it will also

[27:02]be a society that will often have a great deal of ups

[27:09]and downs right what that means is that medical research with regard

[27:15]to many different uh areas is constantly developing sometimes there are minor

[27:22]ups and downs sometimes there are radical reversals what's important for us

[27:27]is to ask from our scholar to receive from our Scholars guidance

[27:31]about what principles are operative and then to apply those principles according

[27:38]to our knowledge and according to our experience and that is the

[27:45]type of answers that we often get from our but it's not

[27:48]often the way that the question is worded or understood so that

[27:54]weakness comes not from the scholarly Authority but it comes from us

[27:57]as a society we will ask for example whether smoking is halal

[28:06]or Haram and we will critize an answer that isn't yes no

[28:10]black white that says well if this and if that and then

[28:15]this is something that you will hear very frequently that well what

[28:18]kind of an answer is this they should just give me the

[28:20]answer because I might want to get a clear answer for myself

[28:24]or I may have asked the question because I wanted to show

[28:27]it to somebody else and say told you so and that if

[28:30]this then that answer is not really good to Lord it over

[28:32]somebody else about how wrong they were the problem with black and

[28:38]white answers when they are given and when they are demanded is

[28:42]that circumstances change the black and white answer gives you no Insight

[28:46]when circumstances change and the states of knowledge change and the black

[28:52]and white answer gives you no insight about what to do when

[28:54]circumstances change right so for example the we find out that smoking

[29:03]is not harmful to people who have a certain genetic makeup right

[29:06]they're not as susceptible to the EMP or the other harms of

[29:14]smoking right now if the answer that we gave that we were

[29:17]given is an if then answer that if it reaches this level

[29:22]of harm to the body if it is wasteful in these ways

[29:24]then it becomes Haram we can still apply that answer to our

[29:32]particular circumstance but if all we have asked or all we were

[29:35]given is a yes no answer that when I find out that

[29:41]for a person with a certain uh Constitution or a certain body

[29:44]type a particular food or drug or whatever it is may not

[29:48]have the same effect that it has for the majority of people

[29:50]is there anything that I can do with that answer it becomes

[29:56]a static process so with the brother's side is very important that

[30:01]in Islam we have a certain place for questioning for asking and

[30:09]generally our effort should be to try to understand the philosophy that

[30:17]we are to apply with our own agency within our lives and

[30:21]that is what allows our decisions to be dynamic to move us

[30:27]in a certain direction I'll give you an example I know that

[30:30]the Electoral season has passed but that's a perfect example of this

[30:34]type of a situation many people they ask whether Muslims or we

[30:41]as Shia uh community in America should Vote or participate in the

[30:46]electoral system at all and many of you probably asked that question

[30:50]or have heard that question asked an answer what are the answers

[30:52]that you have heard you should vote you should vote vote as

[30:58]a block sorry vote as a block block okay vote as a

[31:03]block that's one answer that is sometimes given and the philosophy that

[31:06]is expressed has anybody heard a different answer you shouldn't vote you

[31:11]shouldn't vote okay any any any more specifics different parties vote for

[31:16]different parties meaning like a third party for example Ron Paul or

[31:19]the green party something like that that's another answer that is sometimes

[31:21]given the that's an answer that is often given by different Scholars

[31:28]with in the sh Community especially vote at a local level don't

[31:31]vote at a national level uh because of the relative harm or

[31:36]benefit so some of you may have heard that answer uh any

[31:38]other outstanding answers that you have heard vote blank vote blank so

[31:47]you're you're voting uh a vote of protest that's an answer that

[31:50]is often given by scholars in Muslim countries where there are uh

[31:53]different uh considerations at Place some of you may have heard that

[31:56]answer given for America as well now what I want to say

[32:01]though is that what's important for us as Muslims is to ask

[32:06]not whether we should Vote or whether we shouldn't vote but for

[32:10]us to ask what are the principles that we should be thinking

[32:15]about once we ask what are the principles that we should be

[32:18]thinking about what does it mean to vote for the Lesser evil

[32:23]or not to vote but to support the Lesser evil at what

[32:26]point does support for the Lesser evil evil because there is that

[32:33]danger that I say that well seems a littleit less bad Romney

[32:36]but at what point does that actually become strengthening the Lesser evil

[32:41]and making it a stain that is going to be harder to

[32:44]remove in its own time right these are the things that we

[32:48]need to be thinking about those operative principles and then we need

[32:52]to say that while we will make the decision and if we

[32:54]find out that for example we abstain from from voting and the

[33:01]greater evil came then 4 years later 2 years later 20 years

[33:06]later we may discover that maybe we did something a little bit

[33:09]wrong and we can Rectify our wrong answer from before and make

[33:20]it better Dynamic change that growth that can come in our own

[33:25]lives it's only going to be possible if as a community as

[33:28]and as individuals we give ourselves the space we plan our lives

[33:35]in such a way that there is room for that growth room

[33:38]to make a wrong answer to choose the wrong answer to make

[33:45]a wrong decision but within certain limits right there are some wrong

[33:49]decisions that we can make some wrong terms that we can take

[33:52]that will preclude our ability or make it much more difficult for

[33:58]us to get back on the right path again in the future

[34:00]but then there are many types of wrong decisions that we need

[34:06]to make not because making the wrong decision is what is important

[34:12]but because exercising the agency is important and if we could have

[34:16]made the right decision from the beginning great but what's important is

[34:19]to make that decision ourselves not to take it on somebody else's

[34:22]Authority so that if we make the right decision we continue to

[34:24]grow if we make the wrong decision we learn from it and

[34:29]we become become a stronger person that was the perspective that our

[34:33]IMS engaged in there are many different examples in but I'll just

[34:38]mention I'll reference one a debate that IM our fifth IM had

[34:45]with one of his companions at that time was a very was

[34:50]a relatively young companion of IM Bak the debate was about uh

[34:54]the reality of Iman and K and uh our people who do

[35:00]not believe in the IMs are they even Muslim can they go

[35:02]to heaven can they not go to heaven what is that state

[35:08]and the IM number one did not give a clear answer to

[35:13]and the IM allowed Oman to engage with him and to argue

[35:24]back to him in fact the Hadith says that both parties raised

[35:29]their voices people standing outside of the house heard their raised voices

[35:34]so to all appearances it would have been an argument back and

[35:37]forth now IM Bak yes he was dealing with a young and

[35:41]maybe a little bit of a hot-headed companion but IM Bak throughout

[35:45]his life had enough respect and he had enough Prestige to be

[35:50]able to silence somebody who was in his presence it's not as

[35:55]if the IM was engaging with somebody who was young and hot-headed

[35:58]and the Imam had no choice but to submit to that person's

[36:02]argumentation the Imam chose not to exercise that Prestige and in one

[36:11]of these debates it's actually this wording is reported from Imam he

[36:16]said thatan right now you are young when you are older you

[36:19]will appreciate that what I am saying is right in other words

[36:25]what the IM said is that I'm not too concerned about you

[36:28]being wrong it's not really that important to me it's natural at

[36:31]this state for you to have principles but not understand how those

[36:40]principles are to translate into practice the mistake that many of us

[36:44]make in our own decisions is that we don't give ourselves the

[36:52]space to grow and so we are Marching 100 miles an hour

[36:55]at One Direction when we're 20 and then when we change we

[37:02]lose the steam we lose the momentum or we start marching with

[37:05]equal velocity in a different direction if we give ourselves that space

[37:11]to grow if we understand in what capacity we are to refer

[37:19]to our scholarly output by our living Scholars by our past Scholars

[37:24]then we will have a much easier time of setting the red

[37:31]line Lines within which we can exercise our own judgment the important

[37:34]point is to set the red lines effectively if you have good

[37:37]red lines then you can kind of let yourself be at peace

[37:41]because you know that even if you make a mistake it will

[37:46]be a mistake that you can Rectify it's not going to be

[37:50]a mistake that's going to turn you uh away from the path

[37:52]of guidance is that point clear that's a point that I think

[37:56]is often missed in our discussions about what Muslims should do somebody

[38:00]will say that Muslims should learn from the Jews they're very successful

[38:03]somebody would say the last thing we should do is learn from

[38:06]the Jews because they're successful but they're evil and I'm not saying

[38:10]that I'm saying that these are the responses that you often hear

[38:15]from people very one-sided very black and white very decisive and so

[38:21]whether right or wrong whether very wrong or slightly wrong they are

[38:27]static Physicians they are not a process that is going to lead

[38:31]that individual or a society that is Guided by those principles towards

[38:35]greater insight and greater um meaning in their actions in the future

[38:44]it's not so important whether you vote in the local elections and

[38:49]refuse to vote in the national elections or vote in the national

[38:52]elections as well or don't vote at all or vote with a

[38:54]blank vote whatever you decide to do as long as you understand

[39:00]what are we trying to accomplish as a Muslim Community in America

[39:04]is the the trajectory that the Catholics have followed in the last

[39:13]50 years in America is that somewhat the trajectory that Muslims are

[39:17]likely to follow or should follow should we give the same importance

[39:21]to establishing uh those types of charitable institutions those types of intellectual

[39:25]institutions is the trajectory that the Jews have followed generally favorable in

[39:32]certain cases favorable what is the trajectory that we want to follow

[39:35]and then once we have those goals then you might decide to

[39:40]do it one way I might decide to do it another way

[39:42]but we will be able to interact constructively we will be able

[39:48]to learn from one another we will be able to grow and

[39:51]gain insight as time passes but if somebody gives you a perfect

[39:57]model for 2013 right and in 5 days when the year starts

[40:02]you start to implement that perfect model right you find out is

[40:09]it recommended to wear white and what color shoes should you wear

[40:12]how should you dress how should you talk how should you interact

[40:14]in society but you don't have the dynamic approach to gaining Insight

[40:22]that model might work very well for you for the year 2013

[40:25]but then you're not going to be any stronger in 2014 so

[40:31]up until this point those points that we have talked about any

[40:38]questions concerns anything that you think uh needs to be fleshed out

[40:43]where do we look to for these goals I mean how do

[40:48]we and there's no one large leadership a body of leadership that

[40:51]can set these goals for us and I think that's a struggle

[40:56]a lot of us have had yeah where can we look for

[41:00]that guidance that is why I think and this is something that

[41:01]I will be talking about inshah during uh the the next Workshop

[41:07]that we will have about the Facebook profile of the 12th imom

[41:10]uh not being an expert on the 12th imom and certainly not

[41:14]being an expert on on Facebook I don't really know what I

[41:16]can contribute except a few thoughts that are tangentially related to that

[41:20]topic but that's an important point and I'll just mention one dimension

[41:24]of it to answer the sister's question right now as followers of

[41:30]when we don't have access to our IM basically we don't have

[41:39]access to our diet it's kind of like we know what we

[41:42]need to survive and we don't have access to it that it's

[41:49]as if the Quran were taken from you are together with the

[41:56]Quran so just as if you didn't have the Quran what would

[41:59]be left of Islam if you just had the memory of the

[42:03]Quran but you couldn't actually approach it you would be in a

[42:05]very compromised State the fact that we don't have ready access to

[42:12]means that one part of that scale is something that we don't

[42:15]have ready access to so the very first thing that it should

[42:20]give us is a great deal of humility a great deal of

[42:25]concern that now it's not that we don't have access to it's

[42:28]not that that's disappeared we do have the lives the life story

[42:33]and we do have the presence of the time amongst us but

[42:36]we don't have ready access right so that's the comparison I was

[42:41]making it's not as if the IM or have disappeared from our

[42:45]lives but because we don't have ready access what that means is

[42:51]that we have large questions small questions important questions superficial questions we

[42:57]can't get answers it's like we're hungry and we know we don't

[43:04]have the food that we are intended to eat by God available

[43:05]so now we're going to go scavenge and we're going to try

[43:11]to scavenge for the best possible foods that we can but they're

[43:14]going to be various types of grasses we'll pick up our children's

[43:17]books and we'll make that stone soup that we read about some

[43:20]of you might remember that story or not we're going to do

[43:23]things like that so when we go to our Mar when we

[43:26]go to our Scholars the the perspective that many people have is

[43:30]all right that's that's about it that's what we need right that

[43:33]fills a psychological space that should not be filled cannot be fulfilled

[43:41]by anybody but the 12th Mon and what that does is psychologically

[43:44]it takes away the humility that we need to be able to

[43:46]grow if we maintain that humility and that recognition of the space

[43:53]that the 12th IM or that guidance of connection to in knowledge

[43:58]is to have in our lives then we will still see guidance

[44:03]from our Scholars because we're not going to get any better scholar

[44:06]any better scholarship than from our Mar but we're not going to

[44:11]use the answers that we get to feel self-satisfied we will also

[44:18]be looking at the totality of Islamic history it will still be

[44:22]important to us to study not because we're doing to that but

[44:28]because given that we can't get perfect answers even if I have

[44:33]a legal obligation to do to a particular Mar I know that

[44:36]that is not a and the collective of the mar also cannot

[44:41]take the place of AUM the collective of all of humanity and

[44:43]all of creation cannot take the place of so that humility will

[44:50]give me a constant need of being put in touch with whatever

[44:53]scholarship whatever Insight I can access at the very least we will

[44:55]start with our Mar we will start with the totality of scholarship

[45:00]that has been produced within the Islamic world uh within the Shia

[45:05]school of thought uh since the time of the IMs and that

[45:07]is where we will look but we're going to get provisional answers

[45:11]and there's no way around that we're not going to get definitive

[45:14]answers and so I'll expand on that theme more inshallah in in

[45:18]the next Workshop but to the point that it's relevant to our

[45:21]topic today we're going to need to have that humility and then

[45:26]we're going to need to have a connection each and every one

[45:28]of us to trying to connect with the scholarship that has been

[45:31]produced that is being produced in order to gain further Insight so

[45:37]any other questions or should we can we move on so in

[45:43]a situation where you have to decide between the Bad and the

[45:47]worst would you not choose at all or what would you be

[45:49]well if you have to choose between bad and worse and that

[45:52]is basically the type of decision that we're going to have uh

[45:55]in our lives in America right there is a Hadith many of

[46:01]you are probably familiar this relates to our topic uh uh specifically

[46:05]today but also in a more General sense about our attire and

[46:10]our presentation that uh it is better for a Muslim woman a

[46:14]believing woman not to see a nonaham man and not to be

[46:20]seen by a nonaham man that is ath of I'm sure all

[46:26]of you are familiar with it now that is a uh valid

[46:32]statement it's also important though for every Muslim to be able to

[46:38]protect themselves and those they need to protect within society and in

[46:43]today's society if a person starts her life from the time she

[46:46]becomes B by not seeing or not being seen by a nonah

[46:52]except in cases of necessity then in terms of the life experiences

[46:57]in terms of the confidence in terms of the education to be

[47:03]able to be a strong Muslim and pass on that strength to

[47:07]uh not just children but Society it may be very difficult so

[47:12]there is also another equally important Islamic value that doesn't contradict the

[47:22]Hadith of but it is also part of that comprehensive picture that

[47:25]we have we are to be strong we are to be confident

[47:31]and we are to be knowledgeable about our religion now Z she

[47:36]acquired that strength and she acquired that Knowledge from her own home

[47:41]but for many Muslims their parents might not know how to read

[47:47]Quran so how is that Muslim young woman to acquire the confidence

[47:51]and the knowledge of Islam obviously it might not be possible by

[47:55]never being seen and never seeing a nonm so we have different

[48:01]decisions our ideal would be to be able to have a society

[48:03]where it would be possible to acquire that strength to acquire that

[48:07]cultural resource and fulfill the ideal expressed by they but we're living

[48:12]in America even if you were living in Iran or somewhere else

[48:15]it might not be possible to do so so you have to

[48:19]choose between different options which are not ideal and that is where

[48:23]I think you know although we took a long time with it

[48:27]the perspective that we outlined is so useful basically what you will

[48:30]say is what are the red lines what is not allowed in

[48:33]Islam what type of interaction is not permitted so for example some

[48:38]uh much will say that for a nonah man and women not

[48:43]just for the woman but for the man or for the woman

[48:44]to be together in a place where nobody else can enter is

[48:50]not permitted it's known as I think it's the dominant fwa among

[48:53]it's not the dominant fwa among the Shia but it is one

[48:59]of the opinions right so if I am with a nonaham woman

[49:03]in a car and the doors are locked and nobody can come

[49:06]in even if she's in hijab even if uh there is nothing

[49:10]improper about that interaction it's Haram simply by virtue of being alone

[49:16]together in a place where nobody can enter right now if I

[49:20]do to somebody who says that's a red line that's a red

[49:24]line I won't cross that red line right so I might go

[49:25]to school I might get a job but I'm not going to

[49:29]cross that red line the more common opinion among the Shia though

[49:33]is that in that sense is not Haram in itself it's Haram

[49:38]if there is a fear that it will lead to a sin

[49:43]so if a person can protect themselves a man or a woman

[49:46]then simply to be alone in a place where nobody can enter

[49:51]itself is not Haram unless there is a fear that it might

[49:54]lead to something islamically improper and which case it will become Haram

[49:58]similarly when it comes to shaking hands now there are different fwa

[50:03]that are given is it forbidden absolutely under no circumstances are allowed

[50:07]to shake hands with a or is there an exception for cases

[50:11]where it might cause a harm to the image of Islam or

[50:17]offense to the individual right so that will set the red lines

[50:19]but let's say for example that I do to somebody who says

[50:25]that it's okay to shake hands with a nonah if for example

[50:29]that person will get a bad image of Islam by my not

[50:36]shaking hands that legal answer is not enough because it will also

[50:41]have an effect first of all on my soul there might be

[50:44]a case where I will practice that fat religiously un Justified but

[50:49]I will become desensitized to certain things that might not be good

[50:54]for me number two it might have an effect with regard to

[50:57]the Islamic Society have you ever been in an experience where say

[51:00]that you're at a graduation ceremony and you're ready to say that

[51:04]I can't sh can for religious reasons but by circumstance the person

[51:07]in front of you is an also visibly practicing Muslim and they

[51:10]go and they shake hands and they also give a hug and

[51:14]then you're like what can I say now I'm I'm a different

[51:15]kind of Muslim I don't do it for religious reasons and so

[51:18]you kind of lose the ability to even express your religiosity that's

[51:23]also a consideration right that's what I was saying we can't just

[51:28]take a static approach we can't just take the fwa and say

[51:30]well that's what's important if it's allowed in Islam we have to

[51:38]have other considerations that are uh in our mind the approach is

[51:43]that we get the red lines from our from from the that

[51:50]I do to within those red lines now I exercise my agency

[51:54]it's Haram for me to do this but how do I refuse

[52:00]or extricate myself from that situation requires creativity it requires thought on

[52:05]my part I can do so offensively I can do so delicately

[52:08]and elegantly or it's Hal for me to do this but is

[52:13]it a good idea or is it a bad idea how is

[52:18]it going to affect future Muslim interns at the same firm or

[52:22]how is it going to affect uh future students who are applying

[52:26]for the same scholarship or whatever it might be that is also

[52:29]a concern that we are to make sure that we have in

[52:32]mind there's aith from our fourth IM that I think is relevant

[52:35]to uh the question and this is um it's an interesting Hadith

[52:41]uh it's in a book called by think it's pronounced different a

[52:52]Shia scholar of the sixth hij century theith is like this IM

[52:57]puts on a good pair of clothes says he went out in

[53:08]a nice outfit and he walked out the door and then he

[53:12]rushed back in the door and he had a maid servant he

[53:16]said to the maid servant that can you bring me my old

[53:18]clothes and he changed into his old clothes and he said that

[53:21]when I was wearing the good clothes it's as if I was

[53:24]no longer alusin I wasn't myself I didn't feel like I myself

[53:29]and so it's better for you to wear my old clothes that's

[53:33]the incident what do you get from that incident when it comes

[53:37]to how to dress in America when it comes to how to

[53:39]present yourself uh in in this Society what's the lesson that you

[53:44]learn any thoughts yourself be yourself okay good you should trust your

[53:56]internal instance because if you're going to do something or wear something

[53:59]or behave in a certain way that is going to make you

[54:05]feel unfamiliar with yourself that should be a warning sign to you

[54:09]as to what your values and yes I think both of you

[54:12]are coming to the same point and that's important some people will

[54:15]take from that that it's better to dress simply than it is

[54:19]to dress uh in a fancy way that is not the right

[54:25]answer or the right approach to this that it's better to dress

[54:29]simply than it is to dress in fancy cloes was not making

[54:34]a statement against wearing a fancy clothes if it were something that

[54:37]is not appropriate IM Z wouldn't have bought those clothes and he

[54:41]wouldn't have walked out with them in the first place is not

[54:46]like you and me you know we go and we spend a

[54:49]lot on an outfit and we walk out we're like no this

[54:53]color doesn't suit me and so go and return it and then

[54:55]start the process again if it were a statement about fancy clothes

[54:58]being a problem IM would not have worn them at all but

[55:02]what was important as you said be yourself or as be said

[55:07]to look at the effect it has on you uh to make

[55:08]sure that when we dress the thing that we are looking at

[55:16]is how our soul is being influenced by the way we grel

[55:19]ourselves by the clothing that we wear by the type of environment

[55:25]that we create for ourselves and be aware of the effect now

[55:31]it might very well be the case that in certain cases went

[55:34]out in fancy clothes even though he would have preferred to wear

[55:36]his old clothes in that case there was no other consideration that

[55:41]made him wear the expensive clothes he came back he said to

[55:44]his servant can you bring me my old clothes and he went

[55:47]back out in other cases l m might not have been able

[55:48]to do that he would have had to suffer the harmful effects

[55:56]of the fancy cloes for example and what would the IM do

[56:01]in a case like that he would be aware of the effect

[56:03]on his soul and he would retune his worship His charitable giving

[56:10]other decisions that he makes in order to make sure that he

[56:15]does not harm his own soul because of a certain superficial decision

[56:22]that needs to be made at certain times that is found in

[56:27]a of IM generally IM ja was very well dressed in fact

[56:33]many of you may have heard theith where according to some reports

[56:37]sufyan according to other reports sufyan came to the IM and said

[56:43]that why are you dressed you know in good clothes it's not

[56:46]how Islamic scholar should dress and imams repli that that's not the

[56:50]case now once when the IM was sitting in his home the

[56:55]uh was asked about his clothes he had apparently a patch somewhere

[57:00]on his shirt so people were staring at it saying that you

[57:05]know you are prominent member of Medina you shouldn't be wearing clothes

[57:10]with patches and the IM said to the person that there's a

[57:13]book there and the book The Hadith doesn't mention uh what the

[57:16]book was but presumably it would be something that was collection of

[57:23]the wisdom of IM with the earlier IMS that was in the

[57:26]house of the IMs and he said the man read that book

[57:32]and the that wisdom that was in that writing is that that

[57:37]a person who does not have modesty cannot have faith faith and

[57:41]modesty must come together there is no wealth for a person who

[57:47]is not able to manage wealth if you can't manage it then

[57:51]you can be very wealthy but your wealth will not remain it

[57:54]doesn't have any value religiously and there is no new or good

[58:02]for a person who does not have something old that's a very

[58:09]important point when it comes to how we dress when it comes

[58:11]to what kind of house we want to acquire this is the

[58:15]last point that I will make and then we'll have time for

[58:17]questions and answers when it comes to what type of car we

[58:19]drive right some of us may remember that you know as students

[58:25]we have that old beat up used car and then when things

[58:26]get better we get used to living in a little bit of

[58:30]luxury you push a button and the car adjust the seat adjust

[58:32]itself you can have a camera and you can parallel park easily

[58:36]and it sometimes comes to a point that over time people forget

[58:39]that you can still get around in a beat up old car

[58:44]where you actually have to turn your back to parallel park it's

[58:46]easy to forget many people who have immigrated and have seen real

[58:49]poverty in different countries but have lived in this country for 20

[58:53]years they might not really be able to even survive in that

[58:55]old environment in Islam there's nothing wrong with being able to afford

[58:58]those good clothing that good house and all of those things but

[59:04]what this of reminds us and many other if we had time

[59:05]we could look at some of them is that if you don't

[59:09]have some old things if you don't keep it real if you

[59:10]don't remember where you were or how else it's possible to live

[59:16]then you will not be able to properly appreciate the good things

[59:18]that Allah has given you so that's an important point for Muslims

[59:21]living in the west it's not about how you dress but it's

[59:27]about how affects your soul that get that ,000 suit if you

[59:30]need it to give a professional appearance the same thing with other

[59:34]accessories that you might have or whatever I just threw a number

[59:37]out of my hat $ thousand I'm not saying that that's the

[59:40]Baseline but my point is that maintaining that connection to the effect

[59:46]on our soul and then making sure that we are not desensitizing

[59:52]ourselves to things that are important islamically is what is going to

[59:58]preserve our proper dynamic in our lives increase our Z and our

[60:01]aestheticism even if we are living in the lap of luxury increase

[60:08]our sincerity and our devotion even if we are living among a

[60:13]materialist Society we won't become materialistic ourselves so I will stop there

[60:17]we did have a few other to look at but I hope

[60:20]it was been a productive discussion inshallah and I'll open it up

[60:23]to questions if any of you would like to to ask any

[60:34]questions

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