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Peace be upon you, esteemed gentlemen and ladies.
In the past two episodes of the series on women, we discussed together the topics of Islam and the striking of women, and the topic of Qawamah (male leadership). We conducted a survey for each of the episodes to see their impact on changing the beliefs and feelings of the followers towards Islam. Today, we will review with you the results of these two surveys, and we will provide you with the methodology to deal with any questions about Islam and any aversion you may feel. We will also see the conclusion of the story of an atheist history professor who strengthened the faith of Yusuf ibn Sadiqi.
Let's start with the results of the episode on Islam and striking women. Around seven thousand two hundred followers who watched the entire episode responded to the survey. They answered the question about the impact of the episode on their feelings towards the verse: "And those you fear may be rebellious, admonish them and abandon them in their beds, and strike them. If they obey you, seek not a way against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand" (Quran 4:34).
The result was as follows: Among those who felt hesitant before watching the episode, around 92% of them felt this hesitation decrease or disappear after watching the episode. Around four out of five of these individuals no longer felt hesitant at all.
The results for the episode "I Am Free from Male Qawamah": Around 8,600 people who said they watched the entire episode responded to the survey. They answered the question about the impact: Did you feel hesitant or uneasy about the verses on Qawamah, and how did the episode affect you? Among those who felt this way, 81% of them felt this feeling decrease or disappear after the episode. More than two-thirds of these individuals no longer felt hesitant or uneasy at all.
What we did in these two episodes is similar to a case study to reassure you more about the truth that there is a Lord who is worshipped. We discussed these divine legislations to perform what is called proving the concept. The concept that the hesitation we may find towards a verse or a religious ruling is a result of the malfunction that has affected the three elements of the equation: the image of the divine Sharia, the image of modern Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic ignorance), and the balance that weighs between them. The Sharia has been distorted, Jahiliyyah has been beautified, and the balance has been tampered with, resulting in the condemnation of Allah's command and the approval of Jahiliyyah.
When we showed you the reality of Jahiliyyah and the beauty of the Sharia, and we balanced the scales according to the standards of truth and justice, and we placed the verses in the correct context, the hesitation decreased significantly or disappeared completely.
Here, esteemed ones, we are talking about theoretical episodes, not practical application. One of the most unjust things done to Islam is that it is not seen as a practical reality. Imagine how things would be if people lived Islam as a reality. We are talking about half-hour episodes that change beliefs and negative feelings that have been formed and entrenched over decades through systematic distortion and incorrect practices. Imagine if Muslims lived Islam as a reality.
By the way, in both episodes, the percentage of those whose hesitation completely disappeared was higher among those who watched them in full compared to those who watched them partially, significantly higher. This indicates the necessity of patience in following such methodological episodes and completing them in full.
We must also note that the sample that responded to the survey is not necessarily representative of the general public. We will not go into details about correlation and causation so that the episode does not turn into a dry academic lecture, but these results certainly give indications.
If all of this is in theoretical speech, what if we turn to living role models, changing the stereotypical images of the Sharia through our correct behavior.
By the way, when we publish some comments that indicate the positive impact of the episodes, you might ask why this selectivity? You publish the positive and ignore the negative? We do not ignore anything. Here we are showing you the results with numbers, esteemed ones. Those whose hesitation did not disappear, we do not despair of their guidance, and we ask Allah to gather us with them in love for His Book and Sharia.
So, after this, esteemed brothers and sisters, what is the methodology that a Muslim woman uses to deal with every question, discomfort, or embarrassment she may feel towards a verse from the Book of Allah, or something attributed to His religion, glorified be He?
This is the faith with which we address what arises in the journey of certainty. When this sincere scientific faith is formed, questions about secondary matters will not harm you, because ignorance of the branch does not destroy the root. If a verse, hadith, or ruling causes you to lose your faith, this is simply because your faith is not built on foundations. You may have questions about women's hijab, polygyny, and other issues. Yes, seek answers in the methodological way we followed in the topic of striking and leadership: correcting the balance, dusting off the dust from the Sharia, and realizing the true ugliness of ignorance.
But you study all of this not as a condition before believing in Allah as Lord and in Islam as a religion. Your faith is firmly established on its foundations like the immovable mountains. Rather, it is to increase your faith in the manner of {And did [not] you believe? He replied, 'Yes, but [I ask] that my heart may be at ease.'} To increase your certainty, glorification, and pride in the religion of the Lord of the worlds.
When you believed in Allah in the Islamic system, you believed in a Lord who is the light of the heavens and the earth, who holds the keys of the heavens and the earth, the seven heavens and the earth and all that is within them glorify Him, and there is nothing that does not glorify Him with His praise. He judges with truth, His word is fulfilled in truth and justice, He is not questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned. To Him belongs creation and command. He is the Dominant over His servants, and He is the Wise, the Knowing. His mercy encompasses all things, and He encompasses all things in knowledge.
When you believed in Allah as Lord, you have firm foundations, evidence of His wisdom, justice, and mercy, glorified be He. If you do not understand the wisdom behind a certain ruling, you refer it back to these foundations. The girl who declares her abandonment of Islam because of a verse she did not understand its wisdom or a ruling she did not like, she did not know Islam at all, and she did not know sincere faith at all, even if she was among the memorizers of the Quran and the prayerful, as we now hear. The problem with many people is that these foundations and evidence of Allah's wisdom and justice are not present in them at all, so their faith is shaken by the slightest reason.
If you feel discomfort with a verse, remember the danger of this feeling. And remember the saying of your Prophet, peace be upon him: "None of you will die until he has a good opinion of his Lord, glorified and exalted be He." The greatest feeling you are taught by your Lord is to have a good opinion of Him, glorified be He, of His speech and His Sharia.
When Allah wanted to describe the worst trait of the disbelievers, He said: {That is because they hated what Allah has revealed, so He rendered their deeds fruitless.} And in contrast, when He mentioned His greatest blessing upon the believers, He said: {But Allah has made the faith beloved to you and made it pleasing in your hearts. And He has made disobedience, defiance, and transgression hateful to you. Those are the rightly guided. By the grace of Allah and as a favor, and Allah is Knowing and Wise.}
If you feel discomfort with a verse or a sound hadith, do not follow this discomfort, but now you have critical thinking and a scientific methodology that you have seen the effect of in the previous two episodes. So, you judge yourself and your feelings, and you reform your mind and say to it: {And indeed, it is a mighty Book. Falsehood does not approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a Wise, Praise worthy [source].}
We must pay attention to the necessity of performing a complete "format" of our minds and feelings, erasing all preconceived images influenced by media and ignorant education. We approach the study of our religion with objectivity so that our mental convictions of Allah's justice, wisdom, and mercy turn into heartfelt reassurance and comfort with His words, glorified be He. We adjust our compass towards the pleasure of the Lord of the worlds, and our motto is: {And I hastened to You, my Lord, that You may be pleased.} {We have heard and we have obeyed. Forgive us, our Lord, and to You is the return.}
After the previous episodes, you understand that your discomfort with a verse is not because it contradicts your mind, but because it contradicts ingrained distorted images and incorrect understanding. If you feel discomfort towards an order of your Lord, blame those who make you feel discomfort, {And those who follow their desires want you to deviate far away.} And blame yourself and say: I have tarnished the mirror of my heart with sins, so it no longer sees things as they truly are. So, flee to your Lord who says: {So flee to Allah.} To your Lord who says: {And Allah invites to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to a straight path.}
And you submit to what your mind and nature call out within you: {And perhaps you dislike a thing, and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing, and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not.} And you believe in the saying of your Lord, glorified and exalted be He: {And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice.} Truth in news and justice in rulings.
And you believe in the saying of your Prophet, peace be upon him: Ummima bint Riqueqa, a female companion, came with other women to pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah regarding certain matters. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "To the extent of your ability and capacity." Ummima said: "By Allah and His Messenger, they are more merciful to us than we are to ourselves." Meaning, if Allah or His Messenger decrees something, we are certain that it contains more mercy and consideration for our interests than we show to ourselves. Faith and absolute trust in Allah's mercy in His rulings.
We have journeyed with you in this series, dear one, whom Allah has honored with your humanity and then with Islam. We have journeyed with you to teach you that if humans wrong you, the solution is in the Sharia of the Lord of humanity. For Allah is your refuge, not your opponent, so that you do not have an inflamed nerve towards your Lord, glorified be He, nor a suspicious look, but absolute good opinion and firm certainty. For Allah is your refuge, not your opponent.
We have journeyed with you in this series not to tell you to submit and agree to everything said to you as if it is from the religion. We are a nation honored by Allah with the preservation of our Book through transmission and the preservation of the Sunnah of our Prophet through the science of hadith. The decisive factor is the authenticity of the narration and the authenticity of the indication.
If a text is established and its indication is established, and it contradicts what you truly see as right and just, then blame yourself and say perhaps the defect is in me. But be careful, it is not required that you blame yourself in every situation, for what is said to you may not be from Islam after all. We mentioned to you in the previous episode that the absolute governing standards that Islam achieves are truth and justice, not freedom and equality, and equality can sometimes be false and unjust, so it does not qualify to be a standard by which you measure.
So, what if something is attributed to Islam that appears to contradict truth and justice? What if something is attributed to Islam that seems false and unjust? Do not reject it on the grounds that it contradicts truth and justice, for your assessment of truth and justice may be incorrect. Your cognitive system does not pass it without verification, for they may create a hidden discomfort in you towards the Sharia, the cause of which you will not know later.
You may find that some of the most famous scholars tell people a story that actually exists in some references: that Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, may Allah be pleased with him, once became angry with his two wives, tied them by their hair, and beat them severely. One of his wives was Asma bint Abi Bakr, who went to complain to her father. He said to her, "My daughter, be patient, for Zubayr is a righteous man, and perhaps he will be your husband in Paradise. I have heard that when a man innovates with a woman, he will marry her in Paradise." You may think that Abu Bakr remained silent about this injustice, and you may even say that this happened during the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and thus you take the story in your mind with the seal of approval from the Prophet, and consequently, this treatment of the wife becomes part of the religion for you.
No, but you should say to the one who says this: "Bring your proof if you are truthful." Did this happen regarding Zubayr? And did the incident pass without questioning from the Prophet and the companions? This report mentioned about Zubayr does not have a correct chain of narration, so it is not authentic in the science of hadith. Therefore, your aversion to it is not an aversion to the religion, but it is a rightful aversion to a report that is not authentic. And even if it were authentic, it does not mean that the Prophet approved of it or that it became part of Islam. Nevertheless, we say again that it is a report that is not authentic.
Therefore, you should use critical thinking not only with the enemies of the Sharia but also with those who speak in its name and its supporters who may mistakenly do wrong. What we call upon you to do is to submit to Allah and His Sharia, not to everything that is attributed to Islam without scrutiny.
You may say, "But brother, this is a difficult journey. The process of removing stereotypes, seeking knowledge, sifting through the Sharia from what is falsely attributed to it, critical thinking, self-accusation. This is a difficult journey."
Yes, it is difficult, difficult if you rely on your intelligence and abilities. "If there is no help from Allah for the youth, the first thing his endeavor will be spent on is his effort." So, bring these meanings to mind as you read: "Guide us to the straight path." Do you want Allah's help in this journey? "O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will make for you a criterion." A criterion by which you distinguish between truth and falsehood.
When you neglect your prayer, your hijab, your relationships, listen to or watch what does not please Allah, and say that you do good deeds and good deeds will remove the bad ones, remember the great pleasures you deprive yourself of: the pleasure of loving the speech of your Creator and Provider to whom you will return, the pleasure of the light that He puts in your heart if you obey Him and strive against your self and its desires, "And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good."
Do not be arrogant or justify the sin, I beg you, and do not defend it, for all of this is injustice, "And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people." Ask Allah for help in obedience so that He does not deprive you of the pleasure of loving His speech and Sharia because of the evil of your disobedience and sins.
After all this, dear one, if you still find in yourself an aversion to a Sharia ruling or an ayah, then cry and weep to Allah and supplicate and say, "O Lord, I am for You, so do not turn me back to myself." Say, "O Living, O Eternal, by Your mercy I seek help, set all my affairs right, and do not leave me to myself for the twinkling of an eye." And remember His saying in the Hadith Qudsi: "O My servants, you are all astray except those whom I have guided, so seek guidance from Me, and I will guide you."
If you do all of this, then you are in a good state. And beware of entering into obsessive doubts, where the devil whispers to you that you do not love Allah and Allah does not love you because there is something in your heart against one of His rulings. But as long as you strive against this aversion and try to submit your heart sincerely to the Sharia of your Lord, you are in a good state. The important thing is not to give in to this aversion and not to let it become a settled belief that you confess and defend.
In the hadith narrated by Muslim, some of the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, came to him and said, "We find within ourselves things that one of us would be ashamed to speak of." He said, "Have you found that?" They said, "Yes." He said, "That is the essence of faith, that is the essence of faith." As long as you hold Allah in high regard and know that your aversion to one of His rulings is a bad thing, this indicates your faith, so do not enter into doubt.
We have accompanied you in this series, dear one, to have a sincere faith, a faith in which the servant understands the position of servitude to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. In an era of attachment to materialism and the deification of man, the meaning of servitude and the meaning of faith have become trivial to many people, even among those who claim to be Muslim.
A dear friend of mine has a son named Yusuf. Yusuf was born and raised in America, but he had questions that shook his conviction in Islam. Yusuf spoke with his atheist doctor at the university, who was a professor of history.
The professor said to Yusuf, "What are your questions?" Yusuf told him about them, with the topic of evolution being at the top, which we also address in the Journey of Certainty. The professor said, "Okay, and what will you do with these questions?" Yusuf said frankly, "If I do not find answers to them, perhaps I will not remain a Muslim." The professor said, "No, no, this is very foolish." The professor continued, "You have all these answers to your questions in your religion and all these things that convince you of it, then you leave your religion for a few questions? What if you go to the Day of Judgment and the deity, the one you believe in, says to you, 'I gave you all these answers, then you left Islam for one question or a few questions? Questions you could not understand their wisdom, or He tested you with them? You have all these strong and comforting answers, then you left Islam for a question?' Then the atheist professor said, 'Hold fast to your religion, and seek answers, and if you do not find answers, know that religion involves submission and that Allah tests you.' Yusuf said, 'I told him at that time, if only you were a Muslim, you would be an excellent imam.'"
This atheist professor, although he is not a believer in Allah, understands the philosophy of faith more than some of those who claim to be Muslim. He understands the meaning of sincere faith: that if you believe in a complete religious system that answers the great existential questions, questions about the origin of man, the purpose of his existence, and his destiny, then it is trivial in the matter of religion and a lack of seriousness to leave this religion for a secondary matter that you did not understand or that contradicted your desires.
Perhaps this atheist professor, if he is sincere with himself, realizes that his atheism itself contradicts itself, does not have a coherent foundation, and does not provide convincing answers to the great existential questions, as we explained in the episodes of Innate Nature from the Journey of Certainty. And we ask Allah to guide this man.
Of course, the issue, dear ones, is not about the number of questions that Islam answers, as may be understood from the words of this doctor, but rather the proofs of Islam, its evidence, its indications, its consistency in all its details and rulings, and its non-opposition to sound reason and pure innate nature in all of this. Islam did not ask us to submit to a matter that opposes reason and innate nature, unlike other religions.
In conclusion, dear brothers and sisters, most of those who responded to the surveys did not have any reservations regarding either the topic of Islam and domestic violence or the topic of Qawamah (male leadership). Before we publish a survey about the episode "I Am Free," a dear brother pointed out and said, "Well, I did not have any reservations before the episode on Islam and domestic violence, but when your episode aired, it strengthened my certainty and faith in Allah's wisdom and fortified my argument. If you could add an option that I did not have any negative feelings or reservations, but I benefited from the episode." And indeed, we added it.
The result of the episode "I Am Free" about Qawamah was that approximately 99.9% of those who did not have any reservations said that they benefited from the episode.
We say to those who benefited and to those who had reservations but were relieved by Allah's grace: spread this benefit and do good as Allah has done good to you. Spread the benefit and do not keep it to yourself. When you share the episode, comment on the concept you benefited from and its impact on you. Help in spreading goodness as per the saying {O you who have believed, be supporters of Allah} [Surah Muhammad, 33:7]. Help people and assist them in purifying their hearts so that they may be happy on the Day when neither wealth nor children will benefit except those who come to Allah with a pure heart.
This episode, dear brothers and sisters, although it appears to be the conclusion, will be followed by another important final episode titled "The Woman and the Search for Self," by Allah's will.
Summary of today's episode: If you are serious, then let your faith be serious. If you find within yourself any of Allah's commands, remember the status of servitude and the greatness of the Lord. Seek knowledge, correct the standards of the scale, remove the adornment of ignorance, and the dust of distortion from the Sharia. Supplicate to your Lord who says, "O My servants, you are all astray except those whom I have guided, so seek My guidance, and I will guide you." Adhere to the obedience and piety of your Lord, so that He may grant you discernment. Do good so that He may have mercy on you by making faith beloved to your heart, {Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good} [Surah Al-A'raf, 7:56].
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.