Ramadhaan – A Date with Dr. Zakir
Episode 32
From This Ramadhaan to Next Ramadhaan
(Duration – 43 minutes)
Yusuf Chambers: Dear Brothers and sisters in Islam and Humanity, Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh. May the peace, the mercy and the blessings of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) be on all of you. And welcome to the show ‘Ramadhaan - A Date with Dr. Zakir.’ I am your host, Yusuf Chambers, and today we will be discussing the topic ‘From this Ramadhaan to the next Ramadhaan’. Assalamu Alaikum, Dr Zakir.
Dr. Zakir: Walaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
Yusuf Chambers: Well, I have got some bad news for you. I am afraid this is the last, end of the series of the programme today.
Dr. Zakir: May Allah accept it from us, InshaAllah.
Yusuf Chambers: Aameen, InshaAllah. But its good news because I am sure that you are very busy and you can continue all your work in the Da’wah to our non-Muslim brothers and sisters all around the world, InshaAllah.
Dr. Zakir: InshaAllah.
Yusuf Chambers: I would like to ask, you a question on the topic regarding, you know, what are we going to do after Ramadhaan ends and until the next one comes because we seem to be in the state of spiritual loss after Ramadhaan so this is why obviously we are having this programme and this will give enthusiasm and motivation for the brothers and sisters, InshaAllah to continue all the righteous acts that they’ve been involved with throughout the 30 days in Ramadhaan, InshaAllah.
Dr. Zakir: InshaAllah.
Yusuf Chambers: So in one line how can we Muslim brothers and sisters around the world remain steadfast from what they achieved in Ramadhaan?
Dr. Zakir: Alhamdulillah was salaatu was salaam ala rasoolillah wa ala aalihi wa ashaabihi wa ajma’een. Amaa Ba’ad
A’uzu billahi minash shaytan nir-rajeem,
Bismillah hirrahman nirraheem,
Rabbish rahli Şadri Wa Yassir Li 'Amri Wa Ahlul `Uqdatan Min Lisani Yafqahu Qawli
If a Muslim goes to the month of Ramadhaan and he fasts during the day and he offers the night prayer during the night and he is accustomed to doing the good deeds then, InshaAllah, he should continue doing the same things throughout the year. This is a sign of a true believer. And Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) is ever watching. Indeed steadfastness after the month of Ramadhaan, it is the greatest sign what a person has achieved in the month of Ramadhaan and a person who is steadfast after Ramadhaan and he continues doing good deeds, all the Faraiz and night prayers and Sunnahs etc., it is one of the best signs that his fasting has been accepted by Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), it’s a sign of acceptance.
And Allah says in the Quran in Surah Fussilat Ch. no. 41 verse no. 30
“In case of those who say our Lord is Allah and they stand firm straight and with steadfastness and angels descend on them from time to time and they say Fear ye not nor you grieve and InshaAllah glad tidings will descend on you of the eternal bliss
i.e. Jannah, paradise which is promised for people like you.”
Allah repeats the message in Surah Ahqaaf ch. no. 46 verse no. 13 that
“Indeed those who say that Allah is our Lord and stand firm and steadfast, on them shall be no grieve nor will they have any fear”
And our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) said, its mentioned in the Hadith of Sahih Muslim Vol. no. 1 in the Book of Purification Hadith no. 450, Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) said that
“The 5 daily prayers and one Jummuah Salaah to the next Jummuah Salaah and one Ramadhaan to the next Ramadhaan these are the periods for the expiation of your sins as long as you abstain from major sins and all these acts, 5 daily prayers, Jummuah to Jummuah Salaah and Ramadhaan to Ramadhaan as along as you abstain from the major sins, doing these acts its expiation of your sins”
So once you fast in the month if Ramadhaan, properly following the commandments of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and then stay steadfast and the next Ramadhaan InshaAllah, all your sins except for the major sins are forgiven.
It’s mentioned in Sahih Muslim Vol. no. 1 in the Book of Faith Hadith no. 62, the beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam)
“Once there was a person who comes to him and he asks him that O Prophet tell me regarding Deen of Islam some thing which after which I will not have to go to anyone besides you and the Prophet said believe in Allah and remain steadfast in it”
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says in Surah Ibraaheem ch. no. 14 verse no. 27,
“Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) will establish those firm in faith who believe in the word and then stand firm and steadfast and then Allah will lead astray those who do wrong.”
From this verse of the Qur’an we cone to know that a person should be steadfast in faith and InshaAllah those are the people who are the righteous people.
The beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) said, its mentioned in
Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 7 in the Book of Dress Hadith no. 5861, Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she says that
“Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) used to construct a room with a ceiling and pray in it during night time and day time he used to flatten it and sit on it. Later on when people came to know, they started praying along with the Prophet and the group kept on increasing and when it increased to a large number the Prophet turned and told them that do the deeds how much you can do but be constant in it even though it is few…that being constant is important for Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) does not get tired of giving reward but you can get tired.”
It’s mentioned in Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 8 Hadith no. 6465, Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she narrates that the Prophet said
“The most loved deed by Allah are those deeds that are done constantly even though they are few.”
So the Prophet said do those deeds which you are able to do, don’t overburden yourself and Allah loves those deeds which are constant even though they are few.
So it’s the duty of every Muslim that after the month of Ramadhaan, he should remain steadfast in their faith, if he used to fast during the month of Ramadhaan yet he has an opportunity to do the voluntary fasts which the Prophet has recommended throughout the year. If a person used to pray at night time during the month of Ramadhaan everyday he can yet pray at night time after Ramadhaan. If he used to give Zakaat-ul-Fitr towards the end of the month of Ramadhaan, he can give charity throughout the full year and all the good deeds that he used to do whether reading the Qur’an in the month of Ramadhaan, he can continue throughout the year. So a person whatever good he has achieved in the month of Ramadhaan, he should remain steadfast in it and that is the sign of acceptance and these are the people who would be prosperous.
Yusuf Chambers: JazakAllah Khair and I think that there is adequate information that is there for the people to take heed and continue a good righteous actions that they have accumulated and made constant in this month of Ramadhaan.
Next question is what exactly do you think an ideal condition of a Muslim that has gone through the whole month of Ramadhaan and has come out to the end now. What is the ideal condition?
Dr. Zakir: The ideal condition or the desired condition of a true Muslim after the month of Ramadhaan should be that first and foremost he should thank Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) for making him able to fast during the full month of Ramadhaan and as well as offer Qiyam in the month of Ramadhaan. The condition of a true Muslim is better after Ramadhaan than what it was when Ramadhaan started and his good deeds should have increased and because of the whole institution of fasting in the month of Ramadhaan and the true believers, they really fear that has their deeds been accepted or not and the righteous predecessors always, they competed with each other in the righteous work and to strive for perfection in good deeds but hoping that it will be accepted by Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) fearing that it should not be rejected.
As Allah says in the Quran in Surah Maidah ch. no. 5 verse no. 27 that
“Allah accepts the sacrifice of those who are righteous.
That means being righteous is very important.
And its mentioned in a Sahih Hadith of Tirmidhi (Book of Tafseer) Hadith no. 3175,
“Aisha may Allah be pleased with her (Radhiallahu anha) she asked the Prophet regarding the verse of the Quran those that they are given what they are given and they tremble with fear, “Are these the people who drink alcohol and they steal?” So the Prophet replies “O Daughter of As-Siddique!” She was the daughter of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). So the Prophet says “O Daughter of As-Siddique! These are the people who fast and they pray and they give charity. They are the people who fear that, has Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) accepted their deed or not? And they are the people who rush to do good deeds and they are the ones to do it first.”
So here it’s talking about the state of a true believer that they do good deeds yet they hope that may it be accepted and they fear that it will be rejected. So in the month of Ramadhaan a person does good deeds he fasts etc. and a true believer state is such that it continues throughout the year until next Ramadhaan.
But unfortunately there are some Muslims who are very pious only during the month of Ramadhaan, they may offer 5 times Salaah, they may fast during the month of Ramadhaan, they may pray the Qiyaam Salaah and do all good deeds but the moment Ramadhaan goes away all these acts vanish from their life. some of them are even neglectful of their prayers, some don’t pray Jamaat Salaah, some don’t even get up for the Fajr Salaah when they used to read the Quran in the month of Ramadhaan, they no longer read and it’s a pity that the deeds, they vanish after the month of Ramadhaan as though that they believed in Allah only in the month of Ramadhaan, it’s a pity and it’s a wrong thing as though the Muslim believe that Allah is only there in the month of Ramadhaan and in the other months He doesn’t exist! So we pray to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) that may He make us and all of us to be steadfast as we were in the month of Ramadhaan throughout the year until the next Ramadhaan, InshaAllah.
Yusuf Chambers: Aameen, InshaAllah. Well Dr. Zakir, I agree with you, I think its very-very sad that so many of us neglect our Deen after the month of Ramadhaan but perhaps you could persuade some of us to retain some of the good deeds that we have accumulated and we have started doing during the month of Ramadhaan by telling us what are the means by which we can continue doing those righteous actions after the month of Ramadhaan and beyond, InshaAllah.
Dr. Zakir: Number 1 is to ask the support of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), to ask His help as Allah says in the Qur’an in
Surah Ale Imran ch. 3 verse no. 160
“If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If Allah forsakes you, who is there that can help you?So let the believers put their trust in Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)”
So first and foremost you should seek the help of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and ask him to guide us on the right track and see to it that He keeps us stead fast after the month of Ramadhaan. And the best Dua a person can make is what Allah has mentioned in His Book, the Quran in
Surah Ale Imran ch. 3 verse no. 8 where Allah says
“Rabbana la tuzigh quloobana ba’da iz hadaytana wahab lana min ladunka rahmatan innaka antal Wah hab”
Which means…
“Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate after Thou has guided us. Grant us mercy from Thy own presence for Thou art granter of bounties without measures.”
This is one of the best dua that a person can read especially after the month of Ramadhaan that
“Rabbana la tuzigh quloobana ba’da iz hadaytana wahab lana min ladunka rahmatan innaka antal Wah hab”
“Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate after Thou has guided us. Grant us mercy from Thy own presence for Thou art granter of bounties without measures.”
I purposely repeated because it’s a very important Dua.
No. 2 a person should be in the company of the righteous, his friend circle, the people who he lives with should be righteous people, should be on the straight path, should be true believers so that, that helps him to be on the straight path on steadfastness what was during the month of Ramadhaan.
Point no. 3 he should attend Islamic Lectures, Islamic talks, Islamic Seminars, Islamic Conferences, should visit Islamic organizations which will help him to be on the straight path and come closer to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)
Point no. 4 he should watch Islamic Programmes on the video tapes, on the CDs, on the DVDs, on the television and so that he gets more and more knowledge of the Deen and gets him closer to the Deen ofIslam.
He should go to authentic Islamic sites on the internet that help him to be steadfast, he can listen to audio tapes of the Islamic Scholars, he can read books, hew should read the translation of the Glorious Quran, he should read the Sahih Hadith, translation of the Quran as I mentioned earlier, Sahih International is a good translation, translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, by Mohsin Khan all are the good translation of the Quran.
As far as the book of Hadith are concerned we have Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan Nasai, Tirmidhi, Ibn Maajah etc.
We have the Seerah of the Prophet, Raheeq Al-Makhtum by Shaikh Safi-ur-Rahman Al Mubarakpuri and so on and so forth which will keep him on the right track.
Further he should see to it that he does all his obligatory acts whether it be praying 5 times a day whether giving charity, if he has not performed Hajj he should perform if he has the means to so on and so forth.
He should should increase his superogatory acts, the Nafil acts, the Nawafil so that it will get him closer to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and he can be steadfast, all Nawafil acts.
He should do more Dhikr of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), remember Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), he should read the Quran as much as possible and remember as much as possible and what he remembers he should recite in the Quran so that it becomes a part of his memory.
Furthermore which is very important he should abstain from things which take him away from Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) which are ‘Khutwatush-Shaitaan’, watching un Islamic television programmes, watching un Islamic movies, hearing un Islamic songs, listening to music, going to un Islamic websites all these things are Khutwatush-Shaitaan which takes a person away from the straight path.
And lastly he should again pray to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) to help him to be on the straight path and thank Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and repent if he has made any mistake and thank Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) for all that good that He has done to him and to keep him on the straight path.
Yusuf Chambers: JazakAllah Khair. Dr. Zakir, why is that the Muslims can’t continue worshipping Allah with the same enthusiasm and zeal after the month of Ramadhaan?
Dr. Zakir: One of the main reasons for this is because many Muslims, they consider the acts done in the month of Ramadhaan more as a custom, more as a tradition. That it’s a custom we have to fast in the month of Ramadhaan, we have to pray Taraweeh in the month of Ramadhaan, we have to do good deeds, more of a custom, it is not for the worship of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). And there are many people who offer Taraweeh i.e. the Qiyaam-ul-Layl very religiously but unfortunately they miss many of their Fard Salaah…
Yusuf Chambers: Ya.. yes
Dr. Zakir: …which is absolutely wrong because the Fard Salaah is a Fard and Taraweeh is not a Fard, it is a Sunnat-e-Muakada, its Mustahab. So because of this more of a custom, Ramadhaan meaning more of a custom, more of a tradition that’s the reason that once Ramadhaan is over they forget everything as I mentioned earlier that as though Allah is there only in the month of Ramadhaan and not in the other months.
Point no. 2 is because the surrounding and the atmosphere which is there is the month of Ramadhaan does not remain after Ramadhaan is over so if they as I mentioned earlier, if they keep righteous friends and company of good people then the chances of being steadfast is much more.
And thirdly that because of weak faith many a times the act of righteousness keeps on becoming less and less in the starting of Ramadhaan people are enthusiastic and they overdo it sometimes therefore we find that the Mosques are filled during the first starting nights for Taraweeh, for Qiyaam-ul-Layl and later on it keeps on decreasing and towards the end of Ramadhaan it becomes the least so a person should not overdo the act out of zeal and enthusiasm and as the Prophet said that the act should be constant, that’s better even though its few rather than, you know, doing many and doing for a short time. So a person should do accts which are constant and should be strong in faith.
And the last point is that as it’s mentioned in the Hadith of Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) in
Musnad Ahmad Vol. no. 2 page no. 238 Hadith no. 7148 that the beloved Prophet said that
“In the month of Ramadhaan the Satans, the devils, they are chained and the doors of paradise are open and the gates of hell are closed”
So but natural the temptation is less during the month of Ramadhaan because the devils are chained the moment the Ramadhaan is over the temptation is more, the devil is more after you so more chances that you deviate from the truth and in the month of Ramadhaan when the gates of hell are closed, the doors of heaven are open so more chances of doing good deeds so these are the few points which are the reasons why a person does not remain steadfast after the month of Ramadhaan.
Yusuf Chambers: How come we overcome these shortcomings which make us seemingly worse after Ramadhaan sometimes rather than better? How can we overcome the shortcomings which lead us into this situation?
Dr. Zakir: First we Muslims should realize that Ramadhaan is not a sort of tradition a custom that we have to pray and fast you know and only do these acts because it’s a particular time period, it should rather be to serve Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), for the pleasure of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) because it’s a Fard and if you do it the right way, it will remain throughout the year, InshaAllah.
And Allah says in the Quran in Surah Hijr ch. 15 verse no. 99
“And serve Thy Lord until the hour is certain.”
That means until your death that doesn’t mean that you only serve and worship Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) in the month of Ramadhaan, serve Him throughout your life till the last day of your life, till you die. And we should strive in the way of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and we should be with people who are righteous after Ramadhaan is over, we should be with people who are righteous, who are on the straight path so that as the Quran says that help each other in Birr and Taqwa , we have to guide each other and help each other to strength each other’s faith so that we are on the right path and we should not find it difficult to perform the acts of worship, you should not find as boring or as burdensome because people don’t know the real reason that’s the reason they feel its boring etc. and we have to strive for the right thing
As Allah says in the Quran in Surah Ankaboot ch. no. 29 verse no. 69
“If you strive in Our path, We’ll open up the pathways for you.”
You so do Jihaad in the way of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), Jihaad Fee-Sabi-Lillah, strive in the way of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), He will make the task easy for you.
And the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) which is mentioned in
Sahih Muslim Vol. no. 4 (Book of Aakhira) Hadith no. 6778, where the beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) said that
“Paradise is surrounded by hardships and hell is surrounded by temptations.”
You know, so people think it’s very hard to do all these acts of worship and the good deeds and they are tempted by the Satan towards the hell. So we should avoid the ‘Khutwatush-Shaitaan; that’s the footsteps so the devil and stay on the straight path, that’s very important and we should see to it that we should strive in Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)’s way and these hardships will benefit us in this world as well as in the Aakhira and the best dua for this is that we lay our lives for Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) which is mentioned in the Quran in
Surah An’aam ch. no. 6 verse no. 162 which says that
“Inna salatee wanusukee wamahyaya wamamatee lillahi rabbi alalameen”
That
“Verily, my prayers and my service of sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) who is the Cherisher of all the worlds.”
So we tell Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and we pray to him that my prayers is only to you and my service and my sacrifice is for you alone. My life and my death is for you alone, the Lord of all the worlds.
And then InshaAllah, Allah will keep you on the straight path and that will help us to be steadfast till next Ramadhaan.
Yusuf Chambers: InshaAllah, Aameen. May Allah put us all in that condition, InshaAllah.
Dr. Zakir: InshaAllah.
Yusuf Chambers: Dr. Zakir since Ramadhaan is the month of ….that trains your minds towards patience, could you tell the viewers about the significance of patience?
Dr. Zakir: As far as the word patience is concerned i.e. Sabr, its mentioned in the Qur’an 102 times and it is one of the most important virtues in Islam and through patience, you can come closer to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and the Qur’an says in several places that
“Allah is with those who are patient”
Allah says in Surah Baqarah ch. no. 2 verse no. 45 that
“Seek Allah’s help with patience, perseverance and prayer. And it is indeed hard except for those who are humble”
Allah says in Surah Baqarah ch. no. 2 verse no. 153
“Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoos ta’eenoo bis Sabri was Salati innAllaha ma’a as Sabireen”
That
“O you who believe seek Allah’s help with patience, perseverance and prayer for verily Allah is with those who patiently persevere.”
Allah repeats a similar message in Surah Baqarah ch. no. 2 verse no. 155 to verse no. 157 that
“Surely we will test you with something of fear and hunger, with loss of goods and lives and fruits of toils and those are successful those who patiently persevere and the verse continues and when struck with a calamity, they say “Inna lillahi wa-inna ilayhi raji’oon” that from Him we come and to Him we return. From Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) we come and to Him is our return.
Here Allah talks about patience about perseverance, Allah says in the Qur’an in
Surah Ale Imran ch. no. 3 verse no. 200 that
“O you believe persevere patience and constancy and strengthen each other so that you may prosper.
Allah says in the Quran in Surah Hud ch. no. 11 verse no. 115
“And be steadfast in patience for verily Allah will not suffer the reward of those who are righteous.”
Allah repeats the message in Surah Nahl ch. no. 16 verse no. 127 that be patient for verily patience is from Allah and one of the Criteria to go to Jannah is ‘Sabr’ that’s patience.
Allah says in the Quran in Surah Al Asr ch. no. 103 verse no. 1 to 3
“Wal Asr
Inna als-insana lafee khusr
Illa allatheena amanoo wa amilos Salihati watawasaw bil haqqi watawasaw bils Sabr”
“Indeed mankind is in a state of loss except for those who have faith, those who have righteous deeds, those who exhort people to truth and those who exhort people to patience and perseverance.”
So one of the criteria to go to Jannah is that you should have Sabr, the minimum 4 criteria to go to Jannah Eemaan, righteous deeds, exhorting people to truth, exhorting people to patience and perseverance. If anyone of them is missing under normal circumstances you shall not go to Jannah because Allah says that patience is a requirement. If Allah wants to forgive you that’s a different question as
Allah says in Surah Nisa ch. 4 verse no. 48 and Surah Nisa ch. no. 4 verse no. 116,
“If Allah pleases he may forgive any sin but the sin of Shirk, he will not forgive”
But under normal circumstances if anyone of these 4 criteria is missing, you shall not enter Jannah and on e of them is Sabr. And in the Qur’an
Surah Sharh ch. no. 94 verse no. 5 and 6 says
“Fa-inna ma’a al usri yusra Inna ma al usri yusra”
“After every difficulty there is reward, after every difficulty there is success.”
That means hard times are there but InshaAllah in the end there is success so we have to be on the straight path, we have to do Sabr and the translation of Sabr as I mentioned, it is patience, it leads to self-restraint and Sabr also means constancy, it means forbearance, it means endurance, it means perseverance, various different shades. And if a person is patient then it gets him success.
If a person is impatient, he gets irritated, he gets angry, he is very short tempered, he may fire some of his staff, he may lose his cool, he may behave badly with other people so impatiency is very wrong. Thing you can do, you cannot do because of impatience and if a person is calm and sober he can think properly and success is more closer to him and an impatient person he gets violent, he gets irritated, he gets frustrated and the thing which he can do cannot be done rather patience converts a thing which I can’t do into a thing which I can do and patience is very important for success in this world as well as the Aakhira.
Yusuf Chambers: May Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) rid us of these negative qualities and allow us to have Sabr. Aameen. And succeed alternately in the hereafter, InshaAllah. Next question Dr. Zakir relates to the fact that Ramadhaan is over and the devils are set free, many of the youth not to mention other people, adults as well will revert to their bad habits of watching television, could you shed some light on the issue of watching television and its harmful effects.
Dr. Zakir: Television does multiple times more harm than good. It harms a person spiritually, morally, socially and economic wise. There are various… you can only give a talk on the ill-effects of watching television
No. 1 is that I call it rather, it’s a ‘Khutwatush-Shaitaan, its the footsteps of the devil for many reasons no. 1 is that it many a times prevents a person from offering Salaah, a person gets addicted to the TV. So Muslims though he realizes the timings okay I will pray after 5 minutes, after 5 minutes and he watches the programmes, the soap or the opera whatever it is and he misses Salaah.
No. 2 there is too much of obscenity on the television, normal channels that you see, the entertainment channels you find so much of obscenity and Allah says in the Qur’an in
Surah Noor ch. no. 24 verse no. 30
“Say to the believing man that he should lower his gaze and guard his modesty”
Whenever a man looks at a woman, if any unashamed thought, any brazen thought comes in his mind, he should lower his gaze.
The next verse speaks for the women
Surah Noor Ch. 24 verse 31
“Say to the believing woman that she should lower her gaze and guard her modesty”
That when she looks at any man and any unashamed thought comes, she should lower her gaze.
So now how can a Muslim watch television on which you find ladies without Hijaab, immodest, many of them… the clothes that which they wear they expose more of their body than cover their body so but natural most of the channels that you see more than 99% you can safely say, more than 99% are Haraam as far as Islam is concerned. People give excuse “O why not news channels?” Even news channels the ladies that they come, you know, they dress up.. they don’t have any Hijaab etc. and the obscenity that is there, it is tremendous and there are many reports which if time permits, I will tell you later on.
And the second is obscenity on the television.
No. 3 is extravagance. That when we see any channel, the advertisements, they entice a person to buy things which are not required, you may see a latest car which has launched in the market and your desire will be there to buy it, you may want a very big house or things which aren’t required of like shoes, extravagance
As Allah say in the Quran in Surah Isra ch. no. 17 verse no. 26 and 27 that
“Do not be extravagant do not be a spendthrift for verily a person who is spendthrift is a brother of the devil.”
The fourth point is that it leads unnecessarily, there is too much of glamour and fame, the person tries to get involved in that glamorous world seeing the actors and the other people and they try and imitate them and they try and emulate them, they become their ideals and they become their heroes rather than Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) and the Sahabas.
No. 5 is that there is too much of violence on the television and that really influences a person’s lifestyle and there are several reports on that, that too. Furthermore there is too much of drug addiction, there is too much of fighting etc. which a person gets involved you know “O some people, you know, its nice to have drugs” when a person.. when a young person sees that he tries to at least try it out and that’s how drug addiction increases, alcoholism increases and there are various.
Just to cut it short I’ll just give you some of the reports.
There is a special report done only on the effect of television on children and since 1950 more than a 1000 surveys and researches are done on the effect of television on children and young adults and according to a survey which was present in the Senate Committee of judiciary in USA in 1999, it says that because of young children and young adults watching television, it makes their lifestyle violent, they are aggressive and they are unsocial.
According to the report of Houston a survey was conducted in 1992 that by the time a child reaches the age of 18 and if he watches television the average hours that a person in USA watches, he would have viewed 200 thousand violent acts on television and 40,000 murders. Imagine what impact it will have on that young mind.
According to a report of the American Council of Pediatrics in the year 2001, it says that death in children and young adults and adolescences only due to violence i.e. homicide, suicide and trauma is much more than the diseases much more than cancer, much more than congenital heart disease, the deaths caused by these violence.
And furthermore according to a research done by the Caesar Foundation in the year 2005, it said that on an average, an average American child watches television every week for 44 and a half hours that means everyday he watches television and sits in front of the computer game or infront of the computer screen all put together for about 6½ hours everyday i.e. there is no other activity he does more than sitting in front of the television or the computer screen more than sleeping. Sleeping is the only thing where you may sleep more otherwise any activity that he does maximum is this and the impact it has on the lifestyle or on the behavior is drastically negative.
There were researches done on what effect does a video album has, you know you have a lot of video albums coming up and dancing and singing and music, it takes a person away from Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) therefore I say, its ‘Khutwatush-Shaitaan’
There are researches on the sex shown on these television, its tremendous, maximum number of channels on the satellite TV in America its pornography channels, in UK its pornographic channels. The maximum profit, the percentage of profit made by any channel are the pornographic channels.
And the cheapest to run a channel is the pornographic channel and even the entertainment channels have started getting obscenity on it to attract the people and people get slowly and slowly alluded towards it and India which is a conservative country, Asian part of the world may be a few decades back when we see the way the movies were made in India, if they were to show a love scene, they used to show 2 flowers, that’s it indicating love scene. Later on we had the hero...heroine; they are running around a tree to show a love scene. Now you see them openly kissing on the street, Indian movies even sleeping in bed and it’s very normal.
So that’s how you know it started with just showing a symbolic, love making was flowers and then we see today that open, openly sleeping and showing all the scenes and all.
And it’s even getting into the normal film television channels, then you have the fashion TV and all these you know, therefore we are very particular that in our school all the children who are studying in our school in their house, in their family there should be no cable TV. Even if they want to see Peace TV, if they have a private dish where only Peace TV comes, its permitted but if they have the cable TV along with Peace TV where another 100 or 80 Haraam channels come, we say don’t see Peace TV because Islamic Shariah says let a small loss take place to prevent a big loss.
So the bigger loss is the Haraam channels, the small benefit is the Peace TV but best is to have only Peace TV, have a decoder, see the channel, that’s fine and there are very few channels which are Islamic and getting people to the straight path, very few, the percentage may be less than 1% of the channels.
So we pray to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) that we have more channels and even the Islamic channels should see to it that they are on the Qur’an and Sunnah, that’s important because even they get deviated with this media the film industry, you know, trying to get more popular slowly-slowly they try and deviate so we pray that we be on the straight path so this is just in short, the few ill effects of TV and you can give a talk on this.
Yusuf Chambers: And Finally Dr. Zakir, what are your…. Well to sum up what are your final parting words of advice to the viewers on number of interviews that we had during this month of Ramadhaan on the topic Ramadhaan.
Dr. Zakir: As I mentioned in the first episode that all the answers that I gave, I am a student of knowledge, I am not a scholar. All the answers, all the questions, they asked me and all the answers that I gave they were given by the other scholars. I consider myself to be a student of knowledge, Talib-e-ilm. But the only thing that I did is, I went through the various answers given by different scholars and I checked up and I gave the references, these are great scholars, we are nothing. And I quoted those scholars who are on the Quran and Sahih Hadith so I know that because as I mentioned earlier that as far as the month of Ramadhaan is concerned directly there are only 4 verses in the Quran Surah Baqarah ch. 2 verse no. 183, verse no. 184, verse no. 185 and verse no. 187. Only 4 verses directly. Indirectly other verses are there.
Most of the answers are from the Hadith but if some of the scholars gave answers which are from Da’eef Hadith, Mawdhu Hadith so that’s what I did, I only quoted those scholars who gave the answers from the Sahih Hadith. There may be some of the viewers who may have felt dejected, who may have felt bad that my answer didn’t tally what they had I mind so I apologize, I tell them sorry but the truth is there.
What I did was only went through the various answers and presented the answers which were more close to Quran and the Sahih Hadith, that’s all. But all the answers, none of them are my own answers. It has been given by some scholars or others because they have the right to give Fatwa, I don’t have the right to give a Fatwa. Only thing I did, I presented it, I collected it and gave the references and while giving references I made it a point that since our interview is in English, all those Hadith that are translated in English, I quoted from the English source.
As far as the Quran is concerned, all my quotations were from the English translators of the Qur’an of Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Sahih International. And as far as the Hadith is concerned, all the hadiths are not translated into English. Most of the Khutub-e-Sitta have been translated except for Sunan Tirmidhi, some of it is not completely translated. So the references that I gave are mainly from the English translation of the Hadith. The most common that I quoted is Sahih Bukhari, I gave the translation from the English translation done by Mohammad Mohsin Khan which was published by Darussalam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
My translation references of Sahih Muslim were from the book which was translated by Abdul Hamid Siddique and published from Daral Arabia, that’s in Beirut, Lebanon.
The Hadiths is from Sunan Abu Dawud, the references and translation was the one done by Professor Ahmad Hassan. The publishers were from Kitab Bhavan New Delhi, India.
The translation from Sunan Nisai, the references and translation, the English translation done by Mohammad Iqbal Siddique and the publishers were Kazi publications from Lahore, Pakistan
And of Sunan Ibn Maajah, the English translation was done by Mohammad Tufil Ansari and the publishers were, Kazi Publications, Lahore Pakistan.
And the other English translations which I quoted was Mu’atta which was done by F. Amir Ahamdtarji which was published from Daral Fiqr. From Beirut, Lebanon these main 7 sources of Hadith, they are translated in English which I quoted very often the references were mainly from they English because sometimes it differs from the Arabic source. So people when they check, they may find it different.
As far as the other books of Hadith mainly in Arabic so the references are mainly of the Arabic like Sunan Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad, Sunan Baihaqi also Mustadrak Al Hakim, Musanaf Ibn Abi Shaiba, Musanaf Abdur Razaq, Sahih Ibn Khuzaima, Sahih Ibn Habban, Sahih At Targib, Sahih Jamiya, Silsila As Sahihah, Tabrani etc, etc. so just to make it a note because normally when I give references people verify, they should go to the right source where I have given from. So just my advice that this was little bit what I could do in my way in trying to give to the English audience an overall view of Ramadhaan, may Allah accept it from me and all the good and all the right things that I said is from Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) and all the wrong things is from me and from the Shaitaan and I ask Allah for forgiveness for that and I ask Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) to accept my efforts and the efforts of the viewers in trying to strive in His way and trying to come closer to His path. May Allah accept it.
Yusuf Chambers: Aameen, Aameen, Aameen. Alhamdulillah, I think you’ve virtually said everything that I was going to say, Alhamdulillah but precisely to say that it’s been a pleasure to, you know, interview you over these 30 or so days.
Dr. Zakir: It’s been my pleasure too.
Yusuf Chambers: Alhamdulillah. I am glad with that as well. And I think that this is something you have set up now which is probably going to continue next year and the year after it, InshaAllah, if Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) allows us the life and our limbs…
Dr. Zakir: InshaAllah.
Yusuf Chambers: …to continue the work of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), His work, His righteous work and giving knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihe wa sallam) for the whole of humanity as it has been described in the Quran. This is what its all about.
Well, Dr. Zakir JazakAllah and may Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) reward you for all your efforts over the last 32 days
Dr. Zakir: Reward you too, my brother.
Yusuf Chambers: …immensely enjoyable as I have said to you before. Alhumdulillah. Allah reward you InshaAllah.
Dr. Zakir: InshaAllah
Yusuf Chambers: Brothers and sisters in Islam and humanity, viewers of Peace TV, may Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) keep you steadfast on the Deen from this Ramadhaan until the next Ramadhaan, you and us. JazakAllah Khair.
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh!