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Star TV - Womens Rights, Mazhap, Sunnah

The first topic you mentioned was regarding women’s rights. The Quran gives an important warning about this topic. It says: “I created man as a vicegerent on earth.”

Notice there is no gender distinction in this statement, it talks of humans as vicegerents, not males or females..  This is the primary principle.

Now to the other side of the coin.. The Quran talks about the equivalence of two women to one man, but we must consider this in terms of the time this verse was revealed.

At that time, in Quraysh, a woman didn’t even have a name; she was considered to be merchandise. She was bought and sold. A man could own 5-10-15 women depending on his financial ability. He could use them as he pleased and sell them when he liked. When he died, his children could inherit his wives. So in a society like this, suddenly women are given certain rights, she is given value, men are told they can no longer have as many wives as they please, but only a maximum of 4, yet encouraged to work towards having only one wife, which, they are told, will be better for them. 

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02:36 We must consider the spirit of the Quran, which is similar to the spirit of law. There is always an underlying motive before a new law is drafted, and it is this motive that is considered before the law is passed on and applied. Why is the judge given the right to make an evaluation?

03:51 While a woman had no say and no right to even sit near men, she was at least given the right to testify as ‘one of two women’. But this was not advised as a ‘definitive’ measure, i.e. it can be updated as women and the community in general developed themselves.

04:47 We ‘re still arguing about the gender equality issues that took place 14 centuries ago when even today we’re living in a community that still talks about giving and taking women. This is the state that we have come to… women’s place is still not properly founded today.

05:16 Does not the religion of Islam present an integrated whole? Yes. But fragmentation begins at the time of the fourth caliphate. Tariqahs, madhaps, and their variations, for example we live in Turkey, a ‘Sunni’ country where the majority of the people are hanafi. When so much segregation is done, how can people live the essence of Islam that you’ve been describing? Which truth are they going to believe in? these things cause a lot confusion…

06:27 Muhammad (saw) says, “Whoever believes in the reality denoted by ‘La ilaha illa Allah (There is no god, only Allah)’ he will go to paradise. This is the first point. 

07:23 This is what most people say, though there are many paths, the ultimate guide is the Quran. This is where we should unite, but we’re not experiencing this.  Today they want to insert the religion factor into the government, and to some extent, they do. This is where dispute takes place, the secular sector VS the anti-secular sector, and so on… 

08:19 This is where the topic of sunnah comes in, Today when we say ‘sunnah’ people think if they imitate the way Muhammad (saw) dressed then they are applying the sunnah. There is a great subtlety here. Muhammad (saw) was born into an idol worshipping tribe. There were 360 idols that the tribe worshipped. Muhammad (saw) grew up amongst these… 

09:33 If anything, Muhammad (saw) continued to dress according to the current customs of his time and region without making any alteration. This shows us that real sunnah necessitates us to dress according to the customs of the society in which we are living. If you dress like this then you will be observing sunnah. Because this is what the Rasul of Allah (saw) did. He dressed and styled himself and grew a beard etc. according to the society in which he lived. 

11:17 We talk about the Last Book and how it is the most perfect and how its followers must also be the most perfect people. We can see that there is fragmentation and segmentation in other religions as well but as they advance in science and technology, and while Muslim scholars were the most advanced in science and culture and art approx.. 800-1000 years ago, how can we explain the current situation? Where is the problem occurring?

12:37 In short it says, you’re not this body, Allah comprises the essence of your existence, you possess innumerous divine qualities denoted by His Names, so discover these and manifest them in the best way that you can. 

13:40 The reason why we’ve been advised to perform salat five times a day is so that we read the Fatiha. The chapter Fatiha cannot have a translation. Its meaning can be interpreted and examined in length but its not possible to translate it. Why not? Because as I said earlier, even to understand the letter B in the Basmalah so much time is needed. Salat isn’t just about making certain movements, it is to remember and experience a certain reality. 

14:50 If we build a robot and load it with the audio reading of the Fatiha, and design it so that it can bow and prostrate, does it make it a Muslim? Is this salat? The Rasul of Allah (saw) says, many people fast and attain nothing but hunger, many people perform salat and attain nothing but fatigue. Why?

15:39 If one acts in the name of Allah and really believes in that power within his essence then he will succeed. People must experience the beautiful qualities of Allah within their essence. Salat is the ascension of the believer.

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