Open Question & Answer Session
(Duration – 55 minutes)
Chairman: Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rehamatullahi Wa Barakatuhu! JazakAllah Khair, Dr. Zakir Naik. Before I begin the Question & Answers little bit about myself. In 1996 I accepted Islam at the University of Saudi Arabia; California, Berkeley and the lecture which facilitated my acceptance of Islam was a fraction of this lecture. Had I herd this I probably would have been overblown and MashaAllah, some people are just given that gift and you have been given that gift I Shouldn’t praise people in their presence but…
Now back to the question & answers. In order to make this run as smoothly and as quickly as possible I would ask everyone in attendance tonight to please keep your questions strictly to the topic. To ask your question briefly, to be orderly at the mikes and queue in a line and do not bunch. And I would also like to remind everyone in the audience that we are brothers and sisters in humanity and for those Non Muslims who are with us tonight you are our brothers & you are our sisters & we will give you a priority at the mikes so if you have a question we ask that the volunteers facilitate those people in getting to the microphones and they have the priority. Brothers & sisters if you came with a Non Muslim guest and they are slightly shy please do motivate them to ask their question because we have people who can give the best answers, InshaAllah. And for those Muslims here you have many opportunities so please do let the Non Muslims ask their questions.
We have 3 microphones, 1 in the rare for the brothers, in the front for the brothers & 1 in the sisters section here. So if you have a question, try to make your way to these 1, 2, 3, microphones. Written questions will receive second priority. Those questions at the micro phones will be answered first. I know that we have 1 very patient brother who is a Non Muslim & he waited this entire talk to ask his question. So at this time I’ll go to the front mike in the male’s section and ask the brother to please state your name, your occupation & then briefly state your question.
Questioner: Good Evening everyone. Ah… my name is Aditiya & I’m doing my final year engineering in Chennai. Ah.. though I’m a Hindu I’ve been having this question about Islam that I wanted to ask and no better a person than Dr. Zakir Naik. As you said in your speech many times that holy Qur’an was written 1400 years ago and is considered the most worthy & latest revelation given by Allah so I have 2 questions to you. Allah who knows all, why didn’t he give his best of revelations the first time itself to the first of messengers and why did God take so many times to give his best of knowledge? And my second question which is related to this is even before the holy Qur’an was written i.e. 1400 years ago human beings have lived in the earth for thousands of years so why did Allah the Most Merciful didn’t give them the best knowledge which he has given us for the last 1400 years? Thank you.
Dr. Zakir: Brother has asked a very good question, a very relevant question. two questions both the questions are overlapping the answers. He said that why did Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) give this last & final revelation 1400 years ago. Why not in day one when human beings were there? And the second part which is a part of the same question that what about the people who lived before 1400 years ago. They were deprived of the Qur’an. So if Allah is Most merciful, Most gracious, Most beneficent so isn’t it that the people earlier before 1400 years ago were deprived. A very good question.
To reply to your question, my son he tells me that Abba, father, you want me to become a doctor why do you put me in nursery, 1st standard, 2nd standard then school then collage why don’t you put me into medical college directly? If I want my son to become a medical doctor I don’t have to put him into medical college directly I’ve to first make the grounds very clear. First he goes in the pre primary school then goes into the school 1st standard onwards… passes school then goes to the higher school then college then when he’s fit then he enters a medical college. Similarly All Mighty God, who has knowledge of the unseen, has knowledge of everything. He even has knowledge of the human beings. So it is mentioned in the Qur’an in Surah Rad ch. No. 13 verse no. 38 Allah says “likulli ajalin kitab” that “We have sent a revelation in every age in every period” by name 4 are mentioned in the Qur’an Torah, Zaboor, Injeel & the Qur’an. But there were several revelations sent the 1st revelation, All Mighty God knew that the human beings have to develop if he would have revealed the Qur’an at the first time; at the time of Adam (pbuh) he knew the human beings won’t be able to grasp it. That’s the reason in the revelation that came before the Qur’an i.e. the Injeel today we have the Bible though we don’t consider the Bible to be the Injeel but some parts of the Bible may be the word of God.
It’s mentioned in the Bible in the Gospel of John Ch no. 16 verse no. 12 to 14 Jesus Christ pbuh says
“I have many things to say unto you but cannot bear them now for he when the sprit of truth shall come he shall guide you unto all truth. He shall show you the way to come he shall glorify me.”
So here Jesus Christ pbuh he knew but yet he said you will not be able to grasp it therefore when the last & final Messenger will come he will show you things to come. So similarly All Mighty God he knew very well that when is the right time for the human beings to receive the last and final revelation, the Qur’an and that was about 1400 years ago.
As far as your second part of the question is concerned what about the people that came before the Qur’an was revealed? I will tell them that if my son goes to standard one he will not be given the medical question paper. He’ll be given the question paper of standard one. If he goes to higher school he’ll be given the question of higher school then junior college. Fine? So similarly the basic message of All Mighty God in all the scriptures in all the revelations from the first revelation till the till the last revelation the Qur’an was the same that you have to believe in one God. That you have to worship him and no one else. So all the messengers right from the first messenger Adam (pbuh) right down to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, peace be upon them all, all of them taught the basic message of oneness of God and about Tawheed. And about this message of oneness of God & Tawheed InshaAllah I’ll be discussing in detail on the last day of this conference, on the last Sunday that’s the 20th of January, InshaAllah. Hope that answers the question.
Chairman: Thank you for the question. Do we have another question from a guest here? Non Muslim? Okay we’ll go to the gentlemen’s section rare microphone. Gentleman could you please sates your name & your occupation please?
Questioner: Good evening everyone, my name is Sanjeev. Ah.. I’m working here in LAN Marvel company as an Admin executive. Ah.. I got few questions but I’ll ask only 2 questions regarding this Islam. First question is do Islam believe in rebirth? And second question is in Islam its not allowed to commit suicide but many people that’s in Pakistan, in Arabic countries they are blowing themselves up and they are killing many people so who.. Who are the peoples who are motivating them whether they are really following the Islam or who is motivating them that is my question sir.
Dr. Zakir: The brother’s asked two questions. The first question, does Islam believe in rebirth? And the second question that if suicide is prohibited in Islam how come people in Pakistan & other parts of the world they are blowing up themselves & killing themselves? They’re two questions. As far as the first question is concerned that does Islam believe in Rebirth? If you ask only in rebirth, yes Islam believes in rebirth. What we believe that the human beings come to this earth once the Qur’an says that we give you life and you come on this earth then we cause you to die and then We resurrect you again in the next life. This is exactly what is mentioned in the Vedas if you read Rig Veda book no. 10 it speaks about Punar Janam. Punar means next, Janam means life. So the Veda speaks about the PunarJanam, about the next life. But unfortunately, most of the Hindus they misunderstand the meaning of PunarJanam. Punar means next, Janam means life we believe in the next life. You say PunarJanam, you say rebirth we’ve got no problem but most of the Hindus they believe in a Philosophy known as Samskara. It’s a Sanskrit word Samskara which means birth, death, birth, death. A cycle of reincarnation, a cycle of birth, death, birth, death, birth death. This cycle of birth death, birth death, or Samskara or reincarnation is nowhere to be found in the Vedas.
What they quote is a verse of Bhagvad Geeta ch. No. 2 verse no. 22 which says
“like a human being takes off the old clothes and puts on new clothes same way the soul throws away the old body and puts on the new body.”
As far as this is concerned I’ve got no objection with the Bhagvat Geeta, its further mentioned even in the Upanishads that like a caterpillar walks up a grass of blade it jumps on to the new grass I’ve got no problem. Now as far as the scriptures are concerned if you take the literal meaning of the Veda which does not speak about the cycle of birth death, birth death but only speaks about Punar Janam, next life, Islam speaks the same. But most of the scholars of Hinduism they could not understand that how can a human being be born with some congenital defect. How can he be born as a handicapped? Some are born healthy, some are born handicapped, some are born in rich family, some are born in poor family so they thought this was injustice so how could God be unjust? Therefore they propounded the theory of Samskara which is nowhere to be found in the Vedas. The Vedas are considered to be the highest Hindu scriptures. In the Hindu scriptures you have the Smirti & you have the Shruti. Smirti means scriptures written by the human beings & Shruti are the Vedas and the Upanishads considered to be the word of God. Now because they could not justify why some people are born in rich family, some in poor family, some are born healthy, some with congenital defect they propounded this theory of Samsara.
As far as Islam is concerned Allah says in the Qur’an in Surah Mulk ch no. 67 verse no. 2
“Allazee khalaqa almawta walhaya”
“Its Allah who has created death & life to test which of you is good in deeds.”
This life you are leading is a test for the hereafter and we believe that every child is born sinless, is born Masoom. Irrespective whether he’s born handicapped or healthy, whether rich family, poor family all these things are a test for the human beings as
Allah says in the Qur’an in Surah Baqrah ch. No. 2 & Suarh Anfal ch. No.8 verse no. 28 He says that
“Surely we will test you with fear & hunger, with loss of life and loss of what you have earned.”
It’s mentioned in Surah Anfal ch. No. 8 verse no. 28 that
“Your children & your wives are a test for you.”
Now here we realize that the Qur’an says your children are a test for you. Now if a child Suppose is born handicapped it’s a test for the parents. The parents may be very good, they may be pious, may be Allah wants to test them more after giving them a child which is handicapped yet do they have faith in Allah or not? It’s a test. So whenever any calamity befalls on human being its either a punishment or a test. Whenever a good thing happens in your life its either a reward or it’s a test. That does not mean that if something bad happens it has to be a punishment. It can be a punishment, it can be a test. If something good happens in your life it can be a reward or it can be a test. So here All Mighty God is testing the parents that do they have faith in All Mighty God? So if a handicapped child is born the parent may be an average Muslim & he may say oh why my child only has to be born handicapped? Why my child has to be born with congenital heart disease? Allah is testing them. The people who are good Muslims they’ll say Allah has destined, no problem yet we thank Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) and more difficult the test, more higher is the reward. To pass a simple graduation of BA is easy but to pass MBBS is difficult. The moment you pass MBBS in front of your name you get Doctor ‘Dr.’ higher status. Examination is difficult, the honor is more.
So All Mighty God tests different people in different way. The child that is born what the Hindus said, the Hindu scholars, in his previous Janam, in his previous birth he did a sin therefore he was born handicapped. They didn’t have any other justification. If you do good deeds then you’re born healthy. So what the Hindu scholars they propounded that every living creature it keeps on changing. According to them the universal brotherhood of Hinduism is all living creatures are your brothers so sometimes you’re born as an animal sometimes as a bird sometime as a rat, sometime as a cockroach, sometime as human being. And the human being is the highest level. And you’re born as a human being 7 times. So they came with this philosophy because they could not justify. Why a child is born rich or poor handicapped or healthy.
Similarly for a person whose born poor it’s a test for him so the rich people he has to give Zakaat. Every rich person who has a saving of more than the Nisaab level, 85 grams of gold, he or she should give 2.5% of every lunar year in charity. For the poor person, for him, he gets full marks in Zakaat. He is poor so he has to give no Zakaat, 100 out of 100. but we say array garib aadmi hai, poor man, … poor man… Poor man! He’s got 100 out of 100 in Zakaat. The rich man if he gives proper Zakaat he may get 100 out of 100. he says okay fine I’ve got so much wealth this part is exempted from Zakaat, he may give 50% of zakaat. So he’s getting negative points. He may not give Zakaat at all.
So imagine suppose there’s a questioner, suppose there’s a question in your question paper which is very easy should you be happy of sad? So when a person is born poor actually in Zakaat he gets 100 out of 100. Therefore our beloved Prophet said that it’s easier for a poor man to go to Jannah than a rich man. But we say arey garib aadmi hai, poor man.. how sad! Not sad 100 out of 100 in Zakaat. For the rich man he has to give charity, he has to give Zakaat, he has to give donation, he’ll be accountable for his wealth. So what…. in Islam we are born in this world once and once is sufficient. Once we die we are resurrected on the Day of Judgment. You want to call it rebirth I have got no problem, you want to call Punar Janam I have got no problem, we say life after death but surely if I agree with you for the sake of argument, for the sake of argument what the Hindu scholars propound that you know that sometime you are born as an animal, sometime bird, sometime human being. I want to ask you a question brother in this world as every year is passing on is the population of the human being increasing or decreasing brother? Increasing or decreasing?
Questioner: Increasing.
Dr. Zakir: Increasing, very good. Is the sin in the world increasing or decreasing? I can’t hear you. Increasing or decreasing?
Questioner: It’s increasing sir.
Dr. Zakir: Sorry.
Questioner: Increasing.
Dr. Zakir: Increasing. Human beings are increasing and even sin is increasing. If I agree with the philosophy of the Hindu scholars more the sin increases the population of human beings should decrease. So therefore I believe in going to the higher scriptures, the Vedas. When I talk which I had given a talk earlier in Chennai during the first peace conference that was in 2004 ‘Similarities between Islam and Hinduism’ and there I showed and compared that even in Veda it speaks about 1 God, no idol worship and everything. So what is common between the scriptures we follow. So this the cycle of Samskara, birth-death, birth-death is no where to be found in the Vedas. It’s ta philosophy of the Hindu scholars to justify because they could not justify why human beings are born poor or healthy which I have given you the answer in Islam.
As far as your second question is concerned that if suicide is Haraam in Islam, it is prohibited, if yes then why do people commit suicide? Is someone instigating them, Suicide bombing.
The Qur’an says in Surah Baqrah ch no.2 v no. 195 that
“Do not make your own hands the cause of your destruction.”
So according to the Qur’an committing suicide is Haraam, it is prohibited. So as far as committing suicide, it is prohibited.
As far as killing any other innocent human being the Qur’an says in
Surah Maidah ch. No. 5 verse no. 32 that
“if anyone kills any other human being, whether it be a Muslim or a Non Muslim, unless it be for murder or for spreading corruption in the land it is as though he has killed the whole of humanity. And if anyone saves a human being it is as though he’s saved the whole of humanity.”
So killing any innocent human being whether it be a Muslim or a Non Muslim it is prohibited In Islam. So if anyone whether he puts a bomb without killing himself or with killing himself if he kills innocent human being, it is prohibited. So as far as killing innocent human being is concerned it is prohibited. If you use it as a strategy of war, you know, the Japanese used to do this suicide you know initially, where do you get suicide bombing from? According to a professor who wrote a book ‘Dying to Win’ in America he says that the first people who did suicide bombing were the LTT, Tamil Tigers but yet the blame is put on Muslims I don’t know why. It’s the media. Have you ever heard of any Muslim doing suicide bombing it was first the LTT and then the Americans and may be some of the Muslims, black sheep may have picked up, but who were the originators? But yet when suicide bombing comes the terrorists are labeled as Muslims. In Chennai a few years back I had also given a talk on ‘Terrorism and Jihad – An Islamic Perspective’, where I have described in detail about this answer of suicide bombing as far as Islamic perspective is concerned. But killing innocent human being and committing suicide is Haraam. Hope that answers the question brother.
Chairman: Thank you for the question. We’ll go to the front mike with the males. If there are any other Non Muslims at the back mike or the sister’s mike just have the volunteers raise their hands.
Dr. Zakir: Any Non Muslims ladies they are most welcome to ask their question and if any Non Muslims in the audience please feel free to come on the micro phone. It’s your opportunity and as previous times I have come to Chennai, Alhumdulillah. All the questions were asked by Non Muslims so I hope even now the Non Muslims of Chennai, MashaAllah they are bold enough. You can ask any question even if it is a criticism; even if you disagree in whatever I say no problem. Come up and ask the question. Believe me I’m young but I can take it. You can criticize the Qur’an, you can criticize Islam, you can ask, this is your opportunity. Please come up on the micro phone and have the doubt cleared. This is your opportunity.
Chairman: And there you heard it from the man himself so your name and occupation please.
Questioner: Hello everybody. My name is Ramakrishnan. I’m a software engineer. I have 2 questions for you. The first is what does Islam say about donating organs after death? Is it okay or is it prohibited? Second question is what does Islam say about atheists? That’s it.
Dr. Zakir: Brother asked 2 questions. I think the Non Muslims..one and they are asking two. No problem. The first question is what does Islam say about donating organs? Second question is about atheist. As far as the first question is concerned what does Islam say about donating organs. There is no direct verse in the Qur’an or any Sahih Hadith which says whether organs can be donated or not. But there were various conferences that were held in Saudi Arabia, in Malaysia and various different parts of the world and the scholars have come to a common consensus that if three things are fulfilled then organs can be donated.
No. 1 the person who requires an organ but natural it should be a major benefit to his health, he can receive organ as long as it’s a major benefit or saves his life.
Point no. 2, the person donating the organ after he donates the organ it should not be a major loss to his health. For example if I donate my heart, I will die. So I can’t donate my heart. But the doctors say that out of 2 kidneys present the person can even survive with one kidney. So if my mother has a kidney failure, both the kidneys have failed I can very well donate my one kidney to my mother, even she lives and even I live. But natural after a person dies if he wants to donate any other organ that is permissible but if he is alive he should not donate any part of the body which will cause a major damage to his health or a loss of life.
And the third criteria is; it should not be for money. No one should sell organ. If all these three conditions are fulfilled then organ donation very well can be done.
As far as your second question is concerned what does Islam have to say about atheist. As far as I’m concerned whenever I meet an atheist… are you an atheist brother? He said no, whenever I meet any atheist the first thing I do is I congratulate that atheist. People may wonder that why is Zakir congratulating an atheist.
The reason I’m congratulating an atheist is because most of the human beings they usually do blind belief. He’s a Hindu because his father is a Hindu. He’s a Christian, father is a Christian. Many Muslims are Muslims because father is a Muslim. Now this atheist, he is thinking. He may be coming from a religious background his father may be pious but he does not believe that how can there be a God who requires to eat, a god who can die, a god who can lie. So the reason I congratulate the atheist is because he has said the first part of the Islamic Shahadah, Islamic creed ‘La ilaa ha’ that there is no God. The only thing that I have to do is ‘ill Allah’, but Allah. Which I shall do InshaAllah. So half my job is done to a Non Muslim who believes in some other God, first I have to prove to him that the God he’s worshipping is wrong and after I prove to him that the God he is worshipping is wrong then I have to prove to him about the correct God. Here the atheist, half my job is done. He already agrees in the first part of the Islamic Shahadah La ila ha, there is no god, the only thing I have to do is ill Allah which I shall do InshaAllah.
The first question I ask to the atheist is that what is the definition of God. If anyone says there is no god to say there is no god he should know the definition of God. If he does not know the definition of God he cannot say there is no God. For example if I say this is a pen. Is this a pen? No. it’s a book. To say this is not a pen you should know the definition of a pen. Some people say no Zakir I know this a book so I can say its not a pen I said no, if you know the definition of pen I’ll say is this a kitaab you say no it is not a kitaab because he does not know the definition of kitaab. To say it’s not a kitaab you should know the definition of Kitaab. Because kitaab and book is the same. So to say it is not a pen; you have to know the definition of a pen. You may or may not know the definition of a book. Correct?
So similarly to say there is no God. You should know the definition of God so now this person who is an atheist he’s believing… oh that god he requires to eat, he can lie, he fights and he loses, he does not believe in a God. So I say even I don’t believe in such a god. La ila ha. Then I tell to him the correct concept of God. and the correct concept of God is mentioned in Surah Ikhlas ch. No. 112 verse no. 1 to 4 which I shall discuss in the last day of conference, InshaAllah, i.e. on 20th of January.
So what he’s doing, he is rejecting the false Gods.
Then I ask the question to the atheist that if suppose there is an equipment which is brought in front of you who no one in the world has ever seen, no one knows about it and if I ask the question that who will be the first person, who will be able to tell you the mechanism of that equipment. So the atheist will tell the first person who will tell the mechanism of this equipment, who no one in the world has seen it is the creator. Some may say the manufacturer, some may say the inventor, some may say the person who has made it, the maker. He may say creator, maker, inventor, manufacturer whatever he says it will be somewhat similar. Don’t grapple with the words, whatever he may say accept it. Then ask him that repeat the lecture which I gave which I don’t intend repeating that how did the universe come into existence, he’ll tell you about the big bang, then I’ll tell him that when did you come to know. He will tell you in 1973, yesterday in science. 30 years back, 40 years back. I will say what you are talking about the big bang you came to know 30 years back is mentioned in the Qur’an 1400 years ago. Who could have mentioned it? He will say may be it’s a fluke. Don’t argue with him, continue. What’s the shape of the earth? He will tell you previously people thought it was flat, now we know its spherical. When did you come to know? He’ll tell you in 1577 when Sir Francis Drakes sailed around the earth. When? 300 years back, 400 years back, 450 years back. The Qur’an mentions 1400 years ago. Who could have mentioned it? He’ll say oh may be your Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) he was an intelligent man.
Don’t argue, continue. Light of the moon is its own light or reflected light. He will tell you previously we thought light of the moon was its own light. Recently we have come to know couple of 100 years back its reflected light. It’s mentioned in the Qur’an Surah Furkaan ch 25 verse 61. Light of the moon is reflected, 1400 years back. Who could have mentioned it? Now he’ll pause.
Don’t wait for the answer, continue. In school I was taught that the sun was stationary, it did not rotate about its axis. He’ll ask you is that mentioned in the Qur’an. I say no that’s what I learnt in school. But the Qur’an says the sun and the moon rotate which we have come to know recently. In school 25 years back I was told that the sun did not rotate. The Qur’an says 1400 years back that the sun rotates which science has discovered today. Who could have mentioned that? There will be a pause, don’t wait for the reply, continue.
So all the scientific things I mentioned in my talk after each scientific fact ask him who could have mentioned it before. And finally he will tell the creator, the manufacturer, the inventor, the maker. This creator, this manufacturer, this producer, this inventor, we in Islam call as Allah. That’s the reason today science is not eliminating God, La ila ha, it is eliminating models of God, ill Allah. Therefore Sir Francis Bacon, a very famous philosopher he said that ‘little knowledge of science makes you an atheist, in-depth knowledge of science makes you a believer in God’. So with this help of this lecture Qur’an and Modern Science you can prove the existence of God scientifically. Hope that answers the question brother.
Chairman: JazakAllah Khair. Brother go ahead and state your question. I remind the sisters, InshaAllah, to motivate those Non Muslim sisters may be amongst you to ask their questions. This is an excellent opportunity for them. So you should really try to motivate them to come to the micro phones. Brother…
Questioner: My name is Ritesh and I’m a student studying in 11th Std. my question is all the religions have limitations of clothing. Let me be specific to the women ah… but they have changed with time but why is the burkha still the same? Why hasn’t that changed with time? And one more question… ah.. I’m sorry ah… during Ramazan I’ve seen all the Muslims will be fasting…
Dr. Zakir: The brother said that by the passage of time every religion has got clothing for women but by the passage of time the clothing keeps of changing but why the Muslim women yet wear the burkha? As far as the clothing is concerned brother in Islam there are 6 criteria for clothing. For the man it’s from the naval to the knee. That is the extent it should be covered. For the women the complete body should be covered. The only part that can be seen are the face and the hands up to the wrist. There are certain scholars who say that even this should be covered. The remaining 5 criteria’s are the same for the man and the women.
The second is that the clothes they wear it should not be so tight so that it reveals the figure, it should be lose.
The third is it should not be translucent or transparent so that you can see through.
The fourth is it should not be so glamorous so that it attracts the opposite sex.
Fifth, it should not resemble that of the unbeliever and
Sixth it should not resemble that of the opposite sex. These are basically the six criteria’s and most of these six criteria’s are even mentioned in the other scriptures.
If you read the Bible it’s mentioned in the Bible in the book of Deuteronomy ch. No. 22 verse no. 5 it says that
“the women shall not wear clothes that which pertained to a man. And a man shall not wear clothes that which pertained to a woman. All those who do this they are creating an abomination.”
It’s further mentioned in the Bible in the 1st Timothy ch. No. 2 verse no. 9 that
“the women should be dressed up with shame faceedness and sobriety, they should not wear costly array, pearls and gold.”
And further its mentioned in the first Corinthians Ch no. 11 verse no. 5 to 6 that
“the woman that prayth with the head uncovered, her head should be shaved off.”
There is no verse in the Qur’an or the Ahadith which says that the woman who does not cover her head should be shaved off. But the bible is stricter. Bible is stricter than the Qur’an. That if the woman that prays does not cover the head should be shaved off.
The same thing in the Hindu scripture. If you read the Hindu scriptures it’s mentioned in Ramayaan that when Parsuram when he comes to Ram he says to his wife Sita that he is our elder therefore lower your gaze and guard your modesty.
It’s further mentioned, if you read Rig Veda book no. 10 ch. No. 85 verse no. 30 it says that
“the woman who wears the clothes of that of a man she is defiling it. She should not wear the clothes of a man.”
Further its mentioned that in Rig Veda book no. 8 that
“Brahma has ordered that the woman should cover her head.”
So Hindu scriptures, Christian scriptures, Muslim scriptures modesty is there, covering the head is there. By the passage of time I do agree with you that Christianity now, you only see the nuns covering the head, they are called pious. If Muslim women cover their hair, they are called as subjugated. Why? Double standards. If you see a nun covered properly. Therefore you see the photograph of Mother Mary.
Have you seen the photograph of Mother Mary? Like a Muslimah. And she was a Muslimah. Muslim woman. Properly covered to the wrist, only the face seen. What I do agree with you even if you stick to the six criteria’s by fashion the types of Hijaab, the Burkha, Abaaya has changed. As long as you follow the six principals of Islam and you change the colour from black to blue to brown, no problem. As long as you don’t break any of the six criteria. Therefore you see new-new styles of Hijaab. But some styles of Burkha, they’re so fashionable that they break the laws of Islam. There are so many shiny sequences coming that you are attracting the opposite sex. So that is Haraam. But otherwise you want to wear red, you want to wear black color, no problem. People think black is compulsory. Black is not compulsory. If you wear black may be you may have to wash the Burkha once in a week. If you wear white you may have to wash everyday. The choice is yours. You wear white and wash it everyday, you wear black and wash it once a week, the choice is yours. As long as it doesn’t break any of the criteria, 6 criteria of Hijaab. So now there are new types of Hijaab coming as long as it doesn’t break, you are allowed. But it should be modest. If it is modest it is accepted.
Second question, that you see in Ramadhaan the people fast, when they fast in the day in the evening they feast. And I would like to thank you for asking this question see why do we fast?
Allah says in the Qur’an in Surah Baqrah ch. No. 2 verse no. 183 that
“Fasting has been prescribed to you as it was prescribed to people who came before you. So that you may learn self restraint, you may learn Taqwa.”
And today the scientists they tell us if you can control your hunger, you can control almost all your desires. So if you can fast you can control your other desires but I do agree with you, if not all, many Muslims if you would say most also I would nto mind agreeing with you that they fast and when they break the fast, they feast. So that defeats the purpose, I do agree with you. And many of them convert the day into night and the night into day. They sleep the full day and the full night they’re playing cricket. In India… cricket. So you have to lead a normal life… like a normal life, you have to do more Ibadah, you have to worship God more. So normally when you fast but natural your meals are reduced. It is medically beneficial. But if you over eat then there will be a problem. But if you do it the correct way there are various medical benefits of fasting which you can refer to my video cassette and I have given 64 episodes on fasting which comes during Ramadhaan. And InshaAllah you can watch it, there are various benefits of fasting. Hope that answers the question.
Chairman: Sister’s side if you have a question from a Non Muslims side you can state it.
Questioner: Assalamu Alaikum! This is on behalf of a Non Muslim, sister Vandana. She says I’m new to this concept, have limited knowledge therefore asking a basic question. If out of 6000 verses, 1000 are about scientific facts then what really is the essence of the Qur’an.
Dr. Zakir: The sister’s asked a very good question that if the Qur’an contains more than 6000 verses and more than a1000 speak about science, what is the essence of the Qur’an? Sister as I mentioned in my earlier answer the basic essence of the Qur’an is Tawheed. Believing in one God and worshipping Him alone and no one else. And the Qur’an as I mentioned it’s not a book of science, S-C-I-E-N-C-E. it’s a book of signs, S-I-G-N-S. It’s a book of Aayats. The Qur’an is a book which shows you how your life should be led.
And when I had a debate with Shri Shri Ravi Shankar I said that this is the best book on art of living. If there is any book there’s on art of living, which is the best, it is the Qur’an. Best book on art of living. And it has a membership of more than 1.3 billion people. So this book shows you how to lead your life. Now many a times you understand that because the Qur’an in the word of All Mighty God. One verse of the Qur’an has got multiple angles. Now the same 1000 verses which are speaking about science it doesn’t mean it only speaks about science, it speaks about various other aspects also. That’s the beauty of the Qur’an. When a lay man sees it, he understands it, when a scientific man sees it he sees it in a different angle. It satisfies both. So that’s the beauty of the Qur’an. That does not mean Qur’an is the book of science.
Yes but there in not a single verse of the Qur’an which goes against established science. Because it’s a book of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala), All Mighty God so this book is a book of guidance. How our life should be led. It shows a person to believe in the oneness of God, how to worship Him and how to lead the life. The pros and cons, the Faraiz what a human being should do and the prohibited things he should abstain from. It’s mentioned in the Qur’an. Hope that answers the question sister.
Chairman: Sister if you have another question, go ahead. If it’s from a Non Muslim.
Questioner: Your presentation is an impressive but could you just ask this group to raise their hands who knew some of the information that you mentioned now. The thought here is why is general education and the learning of the holy Qur’an not integrated?
Dr. Zakir: Sister’s asked a question that from the audience how many of you knew the major portion if what I’ve said in the lecture? Please raise your hand. Major portion of what I have mentioned. MashaAllah, you can say most of them. At least more than 50% if not all. And the reason is that I have written a book also ‘Qur’an and Modern Science – Compatible or Incompatible’ which is being distributed in the conference. If those who have not got a copy, InshaAllah, on your way out, the copy of my talk ‘Qur’an and Modern Science’ will be distributed InshaAllah. It’s a 4 color book.
Regarding the pat of your question the second part that why isn’t education been given to the Muslims so I expected this sister would have thought that may be 1% or 10% less than 10% who’d raise their hand so here you see MashaAllah majority knew it. And yet they came for the talk, Alhumdulillah. May be they came for the question and answer session. That is the best part of the programme.
Sister as far as Islam is concerned the first guidance given by All Mighty God in the glorious Qur’an in the last and final revelation to human beings it was not to offer Salaah, it was not to perform Hajj or pilgrimage it was Iqra., read recite, proclaim. So the first guidance given by All Mighty God given in the last and final revelation it was to read, it was education. And that’s the reason the major stress that the Muslims should put is on education and Alhumdulillah the people of the south I know from Kerala and even of Madras, MashaAllah of Chennai as far as the percentage is concerned in the other parts of India, Alhumdulillah, the Muslims in Kerala are 100% educated. Not Muslims, all Keralites whether Muslim or Non Muslim they’re educated. So even culture counts into it. As far as the religion of Islam is concerned, every Muslim, he should be educated. So that’s a message for those who are not educated that acquiring education in important and that is the first guidance given by Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) in the last and final revelation, the Glorious Qur’an. Hope that answers the question.
Chairman: If the sister could please stay at the micro phone I’ll come back to you after I take a question from the gentleman’s side. If you have more questions from the Non Muslims. If there is another sister who has a question, Non Muslim then please allow her to come to the mike and ask her question as well. But until then I’ll go with the brother in the front.
Questioner: Good evening again everyone. Ah.. it was amazing to see how much science that the glorious Qur’an contain after your talk. But in most of the examples from the Qur’an which you gave it is very difficult to comprehend what the Qur’an tells before actually the science discovers or invents that particular phenomena. For example you said in the honey there is healing of humanity in the Qur’an and you mentioned it as its about may be say if a person is poisoned with a plant, the honey of the plant should be taken so what is the use so say of a All Mighty holy scripture talking about things which are only able to comprehend after the real invention is made by science. So can you tell me now something from the Qur’an which will be invented by science later or later be invented?
Dr Zakir: Brother asked a very good question that I have mentioned many things about science indirectly saying all this was already discovered earlier and if Qur’an says something and after science has discovered so what’s the use? Can you tell me something which science hasn’t discovered? Brother that’s the reasons the Arabs were advanced in the field of Astronomy. Why? Because they read the Qur’an. The Qur’an has a lot of information on astronomy. So when they read the Qur’an they try and do more investigation. They do more research and that’s how they come to know. Qur’an is a telegraphic message. See the book of science only on one subject. In medicine one subject, requires volumes. So in that way the Qur’an is, this Qur’an most of the human beings they don’t like to read. Oh such a big book. So if God All Mighty wrote in detail then even a big building, you’ll require thousands of building to contain the message of the Qur’an. Qur’an is telegraphic message. So in telegraphic message many of the Muslims they read the Qur’an and they made advances in Science. That’s the reason we find if you go back into history. The Muslims are advanced in science and technology but you posed a question. Forget about the past what about today? All what I have mentioned has been discovered earlier but many of them were discovered by Muslims some by Non Muslims, some by Europeans what about things which science has not discovered? Fine, first I’ll tell you those things which science hasn’t established but yet there are high chances which Qur’an has testified and I believe in it.
For e.g. Qur’an says in Surah Shoora ch. No. 42 verse no. 29 that
“it’s Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) who has created the creatures in the heavens and in the earth and has placed creatures in them.”
So Qur’an says there is life besides this earth. Today science hasn’t proved there is life besides this earth, scientists say there are high possibilities that life will be there besides this earth. So they are sending rockets, spaceships, moon, mars. Qur’an says there is life besides this earth, I believe in it. Science may discover it tomorrow, after 5 years, after 10 years, after 100 years, Qur’an says; I believe in it.
Today there are many hypotheses how the world will end. It says that the sun will become big and the world will end, the mountains will fall down, the mountains will become smooth, the oceans will swell up, the world will enter into a black hole, many hypotheses. Many of these hypotheses not all they match with the Qur’an. Qur’an says in Surah Qiyaamah ch. No. 75 verse no. 8 and 9 that
“the sun and the moon they will join together, the sun will be buried in darkness.”
If you read Surah Takweer ch. No. 81 verse no. 1, 2 and 3 it says that
“the stars will fall down and lose their luster, the mountains will fall down in utter ruin.”
The oceans will swell up. Its mentioned in Surah Infitar ch. No. 82 verse no. 1 and 2 and 3 again “the oceans will swell up, the stars will fall down” similar to many of the hypothesis but Qur’an says, I believe in it.
Qur’an further says in Surah Anbiya ch. No. 21 verse no. 104
“We have created this creation; we will destroy it and create a new creation”
Science hasn’t discovered that yet.
Qur’an speaks about life after death, science hasn’t proved that yet. Qur’an speaks about heaven and hell, science hasn’t proved about that. Qur’an speaks about Jinn, today physiologies say extra terrestrial power. There are some people who get possessed with Jinns. Qur’an speaks about that.
Qur’an speaks about first man on earth was Adam (pbuh), science hasn’t proved. There are high possibilities that science will prove.
Now you may ask me that brother Zakir you gave such a good talk on science and technology with 100% solid proof you believe in life after death? You believe in Jinn? You believe in Heaven & Hell? You are doctor isn’t this unscientific? I said no brother, I believe, that it is scientific.
Suppose whatever the Qur’an has mentioned 80% has proved to be 100% correct, I spoke about astronomy, about geology, water cycle, oceanography, botany, biology, zoology so just hypothetically 80% what the Qur’an has mentioned suppose has been proved to be 100% correct. The remaining 20% is ambiguous, neither right neither wrong. Not even point .1 percent. Of that 20% which is ambiguous has been proved to be wrong. There is not a single verse of the Qur’an which can be proved false by established science. Hypothesis… so my logic says when 80% is 100% correct and the remaining 20% is ambiguous but not even point 1 % of that 20% is proved wrong. So my logic says that even that 20% Insha Allah will be correct. If not today, tomorrow, after 50 years, after 100 years, after 1000 years, Allahu Alam, God knows. They’ll prove there is life after death, they will prove there is Jinn, they will prove there is Hell, they will prove there is Heaven and so on and so forth, I can give another lecture on things which science hasn’t proved but InshaAllah will prove. Hope that answers the question.
Chairman: Thank you for the question. Sister’s side if you have any other question from a Non Muslim sister could you please state it.
Questioner: This is the last question from sister Vandana. Your memory and grasping is phenomenal. Is there any mention about better memory power?
Dr. Zakir: Sister asked a question that my memory is phenomenal; it’s the Grace of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala). Is there any verse in the Qur’an which speaks about memory? As far as people keep on asking me that what is the secret? Do you have a computer chip? What’s the secret? The secret it is given in the Qur’an. And in my Daw’ah training programme which I take for my students, I say there are 3 things required.
No. 1 The Qur’an says in Surah Ale Imran ch. No. 3 verse no. 160 that
“If Allah helps you none can overcome you, if Allah forsakes you, who is there then who can help you? so let the believers put their trust in Allah.” No. 1 is trust in Allah,
No. 2 the Qur’an says in Surah Ankabut ch. No. 29 verse no. 69
“If you strive in the way of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala), if you struggle and do jihad in the way of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala), Allah will open up your path ways.” No. 2 is hard work and
No. 3 is Allah says in Surah Anbiya ch. No. 21 verse no. 7 and Surah Nahl ch no. 16 verse 43
“fas-aloo ahla az’zikri in kuntum la ta’lamoon,”
“if you don’t know ask the person who is knowledgeable”.
The thirds is the technique. The technique which we train in our Daw’ah training programme, people ask me brother Zakir what is the technique? I tell that’s the third and the least important No. 1 is faith in Allah, with all your techniques in the world. You know many of my students have done MBA and memorizing technique triangle and horse. I don’t know whether you know about the triangle technique and this and that and pegging. Initially they are good students towards the end they come at the bottom. Allah’s help is the best. Better than any pegging or any triangle or anything No. 1. How do you get Allah’s help? If you strive in his way. You strive in his way, you have to get success. If you don’t get success you are not striving correctly in the way of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala).
Regarding technique of memory etc that is least important we have a training course, where we have a 40 days training course where we train people and MashaAllah, you’ll be shocked that even my students, Alhamdulillah, they quote ch. No. verse no., ch. No. verse no. we have Daw’ah training programme where we students from different parts of the world and we train them in how to give lectures, how to handle question-answer session. Its training and hard work.
As far as the verse of the Qur’an is concerned before the beginning of my talk I always quote a verse of the Qur’an from Surah Taa Ha ch. No. 20 verse no. 25 to 28 which says
“rabbishrah lee sadree”
This was the Dua when All Mighty God, Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) tells to Moses that go and deliver the message and before delivering the message, Moses who was a stutter, he used to stammer. And those who know me personally even I was a stammerer when I was a child and in my dream, a person can dream anything in the world. In my dream I could have dreamt of becoming the best surgeon in the world but I couldn’t have dreamt of speaking in front of 25 people because I was a stammerer. People used to ask me what is your name, my name is Za.. za.. za.. za…Zakir, that was me. Now coming in the way of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) may be it was 10-15 years back when I got involved in the field of Daw’ah. When I started doing Daw’ah, stammering wasn’t there. When I spoke with Christian missionaries stammering used to vanish. I never thought of becoming a speaker. I came on the stage because my colleague was cold feet, I came, it clicked. And now I’m on the stage. And now by Allah’s grace I give lectures to tens of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people, the largest gathering is a million people live, Alhumdulillah.
That comes back to the verse of the Qur’an. When Moses was asked by Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) to deliver the message to Firaun and his people he read a dua, a dua, a prayer from
Surah Taha ch. No. 20 verse no. 25 to 28 which says
rabbi ishrah lee sadree
Oh my Lord expand my breast for me, expand my center for me
rabbi ishrah lee sadree
Wayassir lee amree,
and make my task easy for me
Rabbish rah lee sadree
Wayassir lee amree,
Wahlul AAuqdatan min lisanee
Yafqahoo qawlee
And remove the impediment from my speech
because Musa (alaihe salaam) was a stammerer, I also was a stammerer, remove the impediment from my speech so that they will understand me. So the people to whom I’m delivering the message, I ask Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) to expand my breast for me, to make my task easy for me, remove the impediment from my speech so that the people will understand me. So this is the dua which can also be used for memory but the main is having faith in Allah, second is striving hard and third is technique. Hope that answers the question.
Chairman: That would be the last question for the evening and with that we would like to end this, the second night of the 10 day international conference and exhibition brought to you by Peace vision of Islam for harmony, awareness and education. JazakAllah Khair for your attendance.