Signs of the end of time

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Event Name: Signs of the end of time
Transcription Date:Transcription Modified Date: 5/30/2019
Transcript Version: 1


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DUA
The next stage that that we're going to cover is the time element and this is where history comes into place now within the if you look at the the actual Quranic narrative the quran is not a history book there are definitely historical elements in there the quran is using

historical examples but they are used in

an a historical placing in other words

the story of pharaoh and moosa' it's

irrelevant when it occurred it's even

irrelevant if it occurred what is being

taught is something very powerful right

I mean the Quranic narrative is that it

did occur but that is not what is

relevant from the story the story is

used and as a teaching example to learn

something of what happened in the past

in order to prevent its repetition in

the future so there is definitely a

historical element now my friend

professor Khalid Blankenship who's at

Temple a very fine historian told me

that one of the frustrating aspects of

the Quran as a book is that it does not

allow the historian room to examine in

other words he said that like there are

many examples in the Bible that we have

that are historical in the sense that we

can actually look at them as historians

whereas within the Quranic narrative the

the historian does not have evidence

there to either negate or verify much of

the Parana narrative or he accorded to

his opinion any of it really and he said

what and he said it's almost a warning

for for him as a historian like he found

it significant that it's almost like

courting him to let him know that that

is not the point that the to give you a

good example in the in the whole

narrative we don't know if it's if it's

a Ishmael or Isaac who is taken up on

the mountain some of the Muslim scholars

said it was Isaac and some said it was

Ishmael unimportant as the as a detail

in the story which is why the Quran does

not mention either one by name although

the narrative would indicate that it was

Ishmael which is differs from the Jewish

tradition which is Isaac but the point

is that that is not the point of the

story the point of story is a man's

being tested and and and fulfilling the

test in the way that we're most pleasing

to his Lord now the next section here

after email and xn is to tell me about

the hour and the word in Arabic for our

is Sam which is related it's related to

the moment sat like I can say farm I'm

insanity he he got up immediately from

his son or I can say come son what time

is it like the Arabs if they want to ask

what time it is they say come son so I

can ask what times it or I can say it's

the time of the whole now this son does

not relate to historical time which in

Arabic would be called

probably either Zaman and then there's

another Arabic word aha

and there's another one in the Quran

used called Vasa the man is relates to

time as a historical phenomena a SAR is

more like an age or a period and I can

also use a man for that as well son does

not have any of this down if you look it

up it's interesting word in the Arabic

language there's a hadith that says do

not curse AHA because the hair is God

and and the hadith if you look in the

earliest Arabic dictionaries doubt

according to err

it was time stretched out in other words

this time-space right and the idea here

of saya is the actual moment in which

the universe comes to an end and it's

called the hour traditionally in in in

the English literature the hour which I

don't know i don't i think the i mean we

have the idea in the in the christian

tradition of the last hour right now

there is also an idea of the last days

hospitals MN see that the last Zemin the

last period of Zemin so there's an idea

that the human being begins in time and

is moving in X or ibly to an end of time

so Adam is the first man and this is the

beginning Adam and how up and the human

condition is you know from a prophetic

point of view it is prophets that show

up throughout time and what is important

in the continuity a movement of time is

a prophetic tradition itself right this

is the this is the way the Quran is

looking at it is that there is a

conflict going on and this is why the

historical stories in the Quran relate

to prophets coming up against oppressors

coming up against tyrants pharaoh and

moosa' is the most repeated story in the

quran very important story the Lewis

Mumford in wrote a two-volume work

called the myth of the mega machine and

in that book his thesis is that

basically what he called him the axial

prophets these prophets that come around

I think about a thousand BC until

Muhammad which he considers the last of

these axial prophet and he said what

these prophets do is that they're really

shutting down the mega machine right in

other words the idea of this massive

social project that relates to the world

the Pharaoh has his pyramids and he's

going to build them and there's a lot of

people that are going to die in the

process but they're going to carry those

rocks and they're going to carry it and

do it all all for the glory of the

Pharaoh or the society or whatever so

Mumford said that that you know he

thought the Jewish tradition the idea of

the Sabbath was a way of just shutting

down the Machine can't do it sorry not

allowed to move anything right it

literally shuts it down

the idea of five prayers a day it's fair

I mean a lot of Western people get very

frustrated in some of these Muslim

countries where everything stops rule

they're frustrated about a lot of things

right but but definitely the prayer is

something that's very frustrating for

many Western people that go there they

got business to do and the guy says that

we have to stop for prayer right so it's

a problem and Mumford saw it really as a

way of shutting this thing down because

he saw it as a very negative thing now

one of the things that Mumford says is

that there is a movement this historical

movement towards the mega machine that

in Prior times it's nuts and bolts were

human beings right the whole social

project and he thinks that pharaoh and

moosa' is the best archetype of this

phenomenon that the Musa Moses comes in

and is directly a challenge to the

firaon ik project that the prophets

literally challenged this idea that we

are here for the glorification of a

hierarchy and at the top is this elite

and so the Quran uses this idea they're

called the Mela the the people up the

high people the elite the elect of the

world you know there's a film can't

remember the name the where there was

conversation going on at a table and one

of the women's of sinologist and there's

a banker there and the banker asks how

many people are there in China according

to your statistics and she said oh about

a billion

and he said no they're not there's only

12 people in China and I know all of

them right and the idea there was here's

a banker who the way that he views the

world is that the only significant

people in China are his friends who also

are bankers so the idea of being is that

there are a you know at you get to a

certain level in societies where people

really do view I one of wonderful things

I read was I think it was Linda Crawford

who's a model who was up flying and the

actual helicopter crashed Cindy Crawford

helicopter crashed and they were like at

Aspen or some are going up to ski the

powder and they were looking down and

somebody said to her oh look at all the

little people and right then the

helicopter just wanted to this spin

right so she got a very interesting I

mean I thought that was a very

interesting thing that she kind of

picked it up or made the connection you

know that be careful about thinking how

special you are because we're all right

in the in the hands or in the protecting

care of God right so there are people

that really do like Helmsley was out her

name who didn't pay only little people

pay taxes right only little people pay

taxes there are people that really do

think like that right and the poor on is

really constantly bringing this up and

even goes into their inner discourse

which is fascinating literally you can

hear what they talk about when they're

you know because one of the things is

he's telling his melih he said listen we

got to get rid of this guy Moses because

he's going to corrupt our people right

so he sees you know this is a corrupting

out because he's going to teach him not

to worship us right not to say the

Pharaohs God not to give me the

authority that I'm entitled to that is a

disrupting element to the power elite

when you have a teaching that is

literally challenging the very

foundations of that of that structure

and this is something very powerful in

the padang and there are many examples

of it so if you look here then the idea

that time is coming to an end now the

Prophet Mohammed

peace be upon him according to the his

tradition is that he is the first sign

of the end that he actually his coming

was the first time damn time that's how

the Muslims view that now all according

to the Muslims all religious traditions

have told about the end of time there is

a hadith in which the Prophet said no

prophet has come except that he told his

people that time would come to an end

and there would be certain signs so we

have in the Christian tradition about

the end of time one of them you will

hear there will be famines and

earthquakes in many places and you will

hear of wars and rumors of wars which is

very interesting also that especially

with modern CNN and all this stuff right

which is a type of just talking about

wars and also potential things and then

you have the Book of Revelations which

deals also with the phenomenon of the

end of time and many many Christians if

you go into Christian bookstores just so

many books on the end of time right

really a lot of books and as we approach

the millennium I think we're going to

have more and more of this because

you're starting actually to see I mean

you know when the publishers get greedy

when they start publishing these kind of

because some of these books are way out

there

right I mean you read and this poor guy

who wrote he's the most famous how

Lindsey he's the most faint

this guy he has to revive his books

every 10 years because he identifies

like one year at Kissinger is the

Antichrist but you know chess injures

not around anymore since to revive it

every so often because they literally

trying to take the Bible and apply it to

immediate events and there's actually a

television program in some states where

there's a guy he's like a newscaster

with his wife and unbelievable like

every event up well hey there's Daniel

3:14 you see Daniel says that this will

happen this and there you have it look

isn't that wonderful

you know Iraqis are being bombed just

like the Bible said it's so wonderful

Jesus is it's all you know and it's

really interesting it wants these

characters

but they're out there and people tune in

and and get very interested and then

national Enquirer's also got their

little you know you get these the globe

right the end of the time coming so you

have a lot of it's always become comical

you know the guy with the thing the end

is not that there really is a lot of

craziness and traditionally the muslims

have really kind of seen every single

book i've ever seen whether it's the

from the third fourth fifth sixth

century they say well all the signs are

there the end is nigh the idea being in

reality the end of time is the end of

our lives i mean that is the ultimate

end of time that we will die and so that

is an end of time but there is also an

end of human time and so within the

tradition I think the most definitive

hadith about it which I think is also

the most wonderful is that the Prophet

Muhammad said if the end of time comes

upon you and you're planting a tree then

finish planting it in other words don't

become millennia Aryans don't become

people that run off and just the end is

it no do what you're doing keep working

keep doing it if it happens it happens

and you happen to be there when it

happens but don't let that stop you from

action so there is an idea of yes there

is an end of time there are signs now in

the tradition here the first thing he

asked him about the end of time he says

tell me about the the sign the hour and

he says the one being questioned doesn't

know any more than the one questioning

in other words I don't know and he says

well then tell me about its signs and

then the Prophet says peace be upon him

the slave girl

will give birth to her mistress now

that's it's that's an interesting

statement the slave girl will give birth

to her mistress and the scholars

traditionally dealt with that in a lot

of different ways one of them as they

said at the end of time

slaves who in the Islamic like for

instance the Malik became rulers and

many of the scholars said this is it but

ma Malik were slaves in Egypt and they

actually became rulers they said here

they are they've become the Masters

another interpretation was that children

would treat their parents like this is a

traditional interpretation that children

would treat their parents like servants

they would order them around it would

tell them what to do that there would be

a loss of respect amongst in that

relationship but I think probably the

deepest interpretation is that there

would be a radical disequilibrium in

social structures when you look at the

relationship between a servant and a

mistress the relationship is like a

mother and a daughter the mother is to

be obeyed nurturing the daughter the

daughter obeys the mother when that is

turned upside down then you have a

radical disruption in the social order

if you look in the Quranic narrative the

first and foremost expression of a

Touhey de qward view of a belief in one

God is a son to the parents beauty to

the parents showing beauty to the

parents the Quran says and God has told

the human being to honor his parents the

mother first it says o Muhammad Atta

women Allah when the mother gave

nurtured and gave birth to the child

sapped and weakened right so the nine

months of nurturing a child in the womb

giving birth suckling the child raising

the child changing the child doing all

of these things that there is a great

debt owed the child to the parent

particularly the mother and this is why

the Prophet said that the paradise is at

the feet of the mothers is literally at

the feet of the mothers and the Prophet

was once asked who is the most worthy of

my companionship and the Prophet

answered your mother and the

said and then who he said your mother

and he said and then who he said your

mother and he said and then who he said

your father and then in another

tradition a man came to him and he said

the artists will allow a Messenger of

God I am cleaning my mother in her

decrepid age the way she used to clean

me is that filial piety and he said no

that's payback he literally said that's

recompense right you're just you know

recompense in what she did for you so

the disruption of the the parental child

relationship is a deep disruption within

a social order and we can we can see

that really I think not simply in our

own societies but it's it's becoming

quite a global phenomenon

the idea of rebellion there's an idea

and our culture certainly that there's

it's a given that children will rebel

right this does not happen I you know

soon Iman yang who's from the wool of

culture right I mean in the wolf is

there any idea of that of a adolescent

rebellion against the parents I'm just

curious there might be do you have any

idea in your culture of like adolescent

rebellion against the parents

it was not there that would be

consistent with my experience in

Mauritania that they really had no

concept of children rebelling against

the parents whereas it is becoming a

norm and with westernization it's

increasing because of the idea of rebel

without a cause that there is you know

there is this idea that children have to

rebel that they have to establish your

identity there's an awful lot of

identity foreclosure in the Erickson Ian

type of model I think in the Muslim

world there there is an idea that you

really have to do what your parents say

and I think there's a lot of abuse that

happens from the parents to the children

because they do have an upper hand there

so you do see that a child will become

an engineer because that's what the

parents say that they should be right

which in our culture I think that's in a

sense one of the positive aspects of our

culture is that there is a type of

freedom that is allowed for a young

person in many many families and it's

certainly not true across the board but

there are many families that do allow a

child to experiment try to find out and

I think that's actually a very positive

aspect of our society and civilization

the but the idea of the breakdown of the

social structure is is something that is

definitely part of the end of time that

we move into a disequilibrium if you

look there's a wonderful book on this

topic written by a French scholar and

intellectual called Rene genome which is

called the reign of quantity and in that

book he talks about the idea of moving

away from a quality based culture into a

quantity based culture and he considers

that what the Hindus called the Kali

Yuga period the last period of man on

earth that it would be a period of great

disruption in turmoil that there would

be a massive upheaval of traditional

models and a radical new type of way of

looking at the world which is related

more to quantity than quality and it's

interesting there's an you know the idea

one of the things that we as a Western

people have done which is quite unique

and a radical departure from traditional

cultures is the quantification of

everything

you know we've really set out to measure

everything you know measure space

measure gas measure air measure the

speed of light all of these things

wanting to measure to quantify and I

thought was very interesting one I had

statistics in college and one one of the

professor taught the course said at the

beginning of the course one of the

things about statistics that you'll

learn is it doesn't work very well with

qualitative data it works very well with

quantitative data but when you get into

this qualitative data we have problems

right and I thought that was kind of

interesting because so much of our

society is based on statistics you we

really do base a good percentage of our

policies of even in school and education

you know so much is based on well what

are the stats here before we give you

money show us some stats and immediately

when you move into that model you're

moving into a quantitative and not a

qualitative model generally so the now

to go into some of the signs there are

basically the scholars have identified

three types of signs signs that have

already occurred

signs that have occurred and continued

to intensify and then signs that haven't

occurred so some of the signs some of

the signs that have already occurred

according to the Muslims our signs like

the birth of the Prophet that was a sign

according to the prophet also said that

the death of Omar was a sign in the

death of both men he said that the fall

of Constantinople which occurred 800

years after the hadith was recorded he

said the fall of Constantinople was a

sign he said the fall of Rome also to

the Muslims that the the Rome the city

of Rome would become Muslim which hasn't

happened yet the Pope and also so that

would be a later sign that haven't

occurred but in terms of already

occurred they would be signs that have

happened there was a fire that the

prophet predicted in Medina which was a

result of a volcano that erupted and he

said Medina would be confronted with a

massive fire and and that occurred and

several other events that are mentioned

in the tradition the signs that have

occurred and continued to intensify one

of them that the Prophet Muhammad peace

be upon him said that one of the signs

would be that intoxicants would be

widely used so you can see this

happening in the Muslim world and just

intensifying from quite some time ago

another sign would be

the nakedness that people would begin to

remove their clothes and he said until

it would get to the point where people

would actually walk around in the

marketplaces in shorts with their thighs

fully exposed right it's in a hadith and

mesh you fit us well enough of how the

body atone walking in marketplaces with

the thighs fully exposed he said also

that people would have sexual

intercourse in front of other people

was a sign of the end of time he said

that it would get so bad that you would

see people fornicating on in public

places and the best people would be

people who would say can't you do that

somewhere else another one would be

speed in travel he said great distances

would be traversed in very short times

and he said also that people would hop

between the clouds and the earth of sube

Nepali was Semin and he said that there

would be musical instruments would be

everywhere and he said that also that

people would dance with instruments on

their head which some have interpreted

as headphones that they would dance with

instruments on their head and they would

spend the whole night dancing like that

and he also said that you would see

singing women prevalent in public spaces

because traditionally that was something

people did in private things but he said

it would be come out open into the

public and he said that there would be

many people with the he said text photo

and house at which would be whisperings

like there would be many confused people

that would have a lot of psychological

type of problems so I mean I could go on

and I guess quite depressing so those

are signs now then there's the big ones

in which the Prophet the biggest of all

is called the Antichrist which people

understand

the Hadi hadith literature the vast

majority the signs of any time are

related to hadith literature although

some are in the port on one of them is

that a clear smoke would appear over

cities towards the end of time seem sort

of to Duhon some people have interpreted

as that yeah

Johannes is smoke gas it's the same word

used for gas in Arabic Duhon is used for

gas as well because the evident of Oz is

a modern word for the Arabs Duhon was

used for gas as well no clear mean it

would be very everybody would see it

right and it says from the evil that

people were doing another major sign is

the Dajjal now I just want to read

because I think it's very interesting

this is was written in the last century

but it's taken out of classical Arabic

books yeah just about the Antichrist the

word in Arabic is from dead yella it

means to smear a camel with tar in other

words covering the whole body with tar

smearing the part that is mangy or

scabby so it has the idea of hiding

illness or sickness covering it over

right covering it over with a black

pitch to lie to conceal truth with

falsehood concealing the truth he

enchanted or fascinated so the idea that

the Antichrist is an enchanter or a

fascinator people are fascinated by him

he compressed he traversed the region's

or tracks of the earth or land now the

Prophet said that the Dajjal would enter

every city on the planet when they asked

him what would his speed be like he said

like a wind that leaves a cloud in its

trail cadena stead Baraka Sahab

literally means like a wind that leaves

a cloud in its trail and in another

tradition he said he would run

made a white donkey made of iron whose

span between his two ears was 40 cubits

valhalla - Amanda Hadid as the hadith

says and then he says to confuse to mix

things having one eye the Prophet

Muhammad did have question the job the

gel is the word in Arabic for Antichrist

which is better translated by the Arabs

but in the Arabic language as the

imposter Christ

oh Christ yet Monsieur the gel the false

messiah

very much so uh-huh in it is long a

concept of the Messiah the one time

thing represented by Jesus of Nazareth

Wow Jesus has seen this on the side on

the side how did this is it and this is

going to be an Jesus yes and and it's

interesting because if you study the

Islamic Jesus I think it gives you a

very good picture of the idea of an

antique Jesus because anti and Arab in

Greek antis also means in place of

instead of it doesn't really mean

against the original meaning of anti and

Greek as a prefix means instead of and

that's closer to the Arabic

interpretation which is impostor or in

place of pretending to be the Islamic

Jesus and I actually translate I'm

hoping to get it out this year but I

translate all of the Arabic sayings of

Jesus because there's a very large

there's actually more sayings in the

Islamic tradition of Jesus than there

are in the New Testament and most of

them deal with the dangers of the world

of materialism so I find it really

interesting that you know this idea of

an impostor that Jesus is the whole

thrust of the Islamic Jesus is salvation

through giving up material wants and the

idea of an antichrist is salvation

through desire of material goods that it

is material goods that will make

you happy that is material goods that

will save you so I think there's a very

materialistic element in here and also

the idea of being one-eyed is that part

of the by ocular vision is depth

perception which you lose when with one

eye and so the idea that there's no that

the Dajjal or the Antichrist does not

have a depth perception 'el being he

sees things in two dimensions and some

of the Muslim scholars do not consider

it an individual and but most do and

some and you'll see it as we go on here

having one eye is one of them also to

gild a thing so in other words you take

lad you put gold over it that's you dead

jinn so to make something that's cheap

or insignificant look very worthwhile or

significant cover the land with water

he put his land into a right or proper

state prepared it improved it with dung

so to spread dung on the earth to spread

feces on the earth the job done for

maneuvering land and then do job is

refuse lowest basest or meanest sort of

people the lowest basest or meanest sort

of people dead job a Guilder a liar

conceals truth with falsehood who

deceives deludes beguile circumvents

outwits

much or often very deceitful the great

deceiver and then a great company of men

dijanna in arabic means a great company

of men journeying together covering the

ground by their multitude or a company

of men journeying together carrying

goods for sale right so trafficking

goods all over the place Masika dab the

false Christ or Antichrist is to be a

certain man right comes forth in the

last day

so having one eye or eyebrow so that you

get the idea there this is a classical

coming out of classical dictionaries the

idea of the Antichrist is that towards

the end there there will be a type of

false salvation through love of the

world and material things and these

things and and I think the Muslims

definitely have a very strong sense of

the Dajjal because at the end of the

prayer you actually make a prayer that

says and I seek refuge from the

tribulation of the vigil in the last

period and the Prophet Muhammad said

every prophet has warned his people

about the Dajjal but I will tell you

something that no other prophet told his

people he only has one eye so that was

the the tradition that he said about the

Dajjal that he would have one eye and

there's a very interesting some of the

Muslims said you know the television is

like a Dajjal is a one-eyed type Beast

and there's an interesting section in

Moo's Mumford's the second volume of his

work on the mega machine which is the

eye of the one eye of Ray the all-seeing

eye of Ray and he talks about that the

mega machine one of the things about the

mega machine he said traditionally was

that they couldn't they didn't have an

all-seeing power these these previous

kings and rulers and so he said what's

happening though is that and he wrote

this in 1961 he said in the near future

we have theoretically at our hands a

machine that will able to monitor all of

our life which is the computer and he

said that and this is what Foucault

called the Panoptix society the

all-seeing Society and it was designed

after the idea of a prison system that

Jeremy Bentham designed which was where

you had a center piece utilitarianism

you had this Center you only needed one

guard and around the guard were all the

prison cells so in the middle was a

tower of which this one guard could

watch everything at one time and so the

idea of the all-seeing you know the

state apparatus in which we're all

monitored

a really interesting book about this

subject is called the I can see the

cover because it's got that pyramid with

the eye on it it's got the naked

consumer a very interesting book about

how we are watched that you know a lot

of people don't know this but when you

buy things with your credit cards they

go under bio-datas and so they can work

out like I started getting all this

stuff about like different types of

books I'd get these like things from

spiritual book companies and things

because they worked out you know you buy

them then they sell they do bio-data on

you find out what type books you like to

read and then they sell that list of

people when we had a baby the first

child then like week later we got all

these things about bit and my wife was

like oh what you know this is a classic

problem with religion right you it's a

sign right no there's somebody that

monitors for the corporation's all the

births in the county and they sell your

address to people right it wasn't a sign

right or it was a sign that we're in big

trouble right where everything's being

watched by these so the idea just of you

know this kind of panoptic culture where

and the interesting thing now is this

idea of computers with the actual camera

on it very interesting phenomena because

who else can watch right who else can

watch while you're having your

conversations and things like that so

that there is an idea of this you know

the Antichrist and this the the end and

most Muslims do believe in a second

coming of Jesus vast majority of Muslims

there are many Hadees that confirms it's

not actually mentioned directly in the

Quran but most Muslims do believe in a

second coming of Christ towards the end

of time

a good point and that was something that

the the prop the scholars did deal with

that he will not come back as a as a

prophet bringing a Sharia according to

the Muslims he actually comes back and

he can

the the tradition of the Prophet

Muhammad that's how the Muslims view it

that he comes back now the question was

wouldn't that mean that the problem

Muhammad wasn't the seal but it would in

the sense that the Prophet is after

Jesus the Prophet Muhammad said there's

no prophet between me and Jesus and he

said that all of the prophets are

brothers we have the same father which

is the religion of the deen of islam

with different mothers meaning the

different Shetty Azur the different

sacred laws and then the next after the

birth of mistress is that you will see

the barefooted naked destitute herdsmen

competing in constructing lofty

buildings now at one level this is seen

by many people in the modern time the

idea of you know the Bedouin people now

in the Arabian Peninsula building all

these you know they were literally

destitute people 4050 years ago and when

I was in the United Arab Emirates I was

once in in the muds of Sheikh Sultan Al

Qasimi who's the ruler of Sharjah and

you know they're very kind of pomp type

pompous modulus you know there's a lot

of protocol things but there was this

guy that came in literally in almost

rags and he came in dirty and he

barefoot comes walking in quite

arrogantly goes up to the ruler shakes

his hand then sits down and I asked a

person next to me who's that he said

it's his cousin you know but he's still

like a Bedouin out in the he lives out

and it was just you know he's a bedroom

guy losing a tent but you know his his

cousin had become the ruler of the

country so I I thought that was really

interesting this idea of these you know

poor people and then building a very

interesting phenomenon in Arabia is

building buildings and then another

Sheikh getting upset because so-and-so

built a taller building than him he'll

actually tear down his building and

build up one taller than the second one

right and this is also in our own

culture the New York you know the the

Empire State Building was the tallest

and then the Chicago building one up

them and then the World Trade Center and

then you have now

Malaysia interestingly enough very proud

the Malaysians are very proud that they

now have the tallest building in the

world and you know somebody had it on

the cover of a Muslim magazine and they

asked me what I thought I said I think

it's really interesting that the Muslims

are proud of being part of fulfilling

the signs at the end of time right

because it's seen as a very negative

thing not a positive thing and then also

there's another way to look at this of

building tall buildings like these kind

of wretched people and that is the idea

of of building lofty ideas and building

ideological structures because the Quran

talks about the building of taqwa

boo-yah know taqwa right the building of

God consciousness and awareness so the

idea also of wretched people creating

lofty ideologies that many people will

follow and think that they're the truth

and things like that so these is just a

very quick overview about it and then

also finally I think the point of all of

that is that time does come to an end

that the human condition does come to an

end and that's how Islam contextualizes

history is that there is an end that is

imminent again I think for the

individual person the imminence of the

end of time is always related to their

own personal death but there is an idea

also and then there's another important

I think a very important idea within the

Islamic tradition and that is that each

generation will be less they will be

fulfilling the idea of this dimensional

Islam of amen is some SN they will not

do it as well as the previous generation

that there is an idea that each

generation is a watered-down version

there are periods of renewal

historically in the Prophet Muhammad did

say that that there would be renewer

every hundred years or so there would be

people that come and renew but the idea

that it's not the same I mean I think

the Muslims do have an idea

traditional Muslims anyway that it's not

so much progress but quite the opposite

one of the things rented genome pointed

out about the rapid speed of progress

you said one of the things that we

forget is increasing acceleration means

going down not up right that the idea of

the modern world and I think there's a

lot of questioning now of the wisdom of

the you know the idea bacon introduced

the idea of progress because prior to

that the Christians did not have that

idea within their worldview of that we

are progressing they had quite a

different idea and I think ultimately

from the Muslim world view and also from

other traditional worldviews that the

you know that the same ethical issues

that that the Plato is positing through

Socrates you know what is justice you

know how do we lead a good life what is

a good life these things we have not

come any closer

right to really you know progressing in

terms of our ethical nature in terms of

our spiritual nature that although we

have massive outward technology able to

do extraordinary things

bring the living back bring the dead

back to life you know move mountains

quite literally despite that we are

still dealing with basic human

tendencies such as greed lust and the

slothfulness it's hard to get away from

those and in some ways were less aware

of our own negative tendencies than

perhaps people's before us were and more

filled with our own sense of hubris and

our own sense of power although

certainly the 20th century is is a

century that has created a lot of

disillusionment you know we've killed a

hundred and eighty million people this

century alone in wars between human

beings and it's interesting that they

weren't religious

Wars there were ideological Wars you

know because one of the oftentimes

critics of religion will point out well

look how many people died in the name of

religion well look how many people died

in the name of communism right I mean we

forget that we're dealing with a human

species

that it's not the religion is not the

problem man is the problem right and if

there's a humanizing factor in the human

condition as far as I'm concerned it has

been religion that religion is what has

introduced into the human being concepts

like making beauty that concepts like

becoming conscientious charity right

carry tasks you know these these things

the Kairos all of these things are

coming out of religious traditions and

the Muslims always in and God knows best

I'm going to open it up for some

questions if people want to go there

believe me you're most welcome to go

this is my last talk that that you know

that I have with you and I just would

like to say my presentations you know

I'm I adhere to the teaching of Islam

and I do believe in Islam and I tend to

take a more devotional approach than say

some other academic approaches you know

that that is my I really try not to

preach to people because I never have

ever liked being preached to in my life

so I really try to do that but if it has

come off as that you know I would

apologize to anybody if I said anything

in any way that offended people or their

tradition or their own beliefs that I

also apologize for that that was not my

intention if that was the result then I

would just ask that I would be excused

for that graciously and then I would

also just like to say that this has

really been a very good and enriching

experience for me it always is and I've

been appreciative the fact Darla's song

has invited me back but I would like to

say this has benefit for me a very good

group and I'm not just you know I didn't

say that to the last groups I really

have enjoyed this group personally you

know I think you've all been

just really just a good group and you're

all teachers so you know a teacher likes

nothing better than having good students

and and so I've honored and grateful

that that's been the case so having said

all that I'll just say if anybody has

any questions that I could answer or

anything I had a question that just came

up in my mind like it's about time but

it's not directed to you election I

notice it and the MAS there was a list

of when the five prayer times were and

they changed every day right I guess

it's late to the lights of the day is

there a place where how would you find

out what the prayer times are where your

geographical living ground you read

through that again my guru second I

think in the beginning of the Islam

lecture I talked about how to find the

prayer times and they are based on the

Sun and the movement of the Sun they're

easy to determine unless you live in an

area in which the Sun is clouded over so

you don't see it and in that case

generally the scholars have permitted

the use of astronomical means of

determining so you haven't really hit a

time like you do right but we actually

personally I don't follow that that's

put there for like cloudy days and

things like that I will look outside at

the natural phenomena to determine my

prayer times that's what I do there are

many Muslims that depend on the prayer

schedule traditionally it's alien to

these because there's an importance in

being aware of cosmic phenomena I mean

the the Muslim tradition really does try

to connect you to the movement of the

planets the Stars the Sun uh-huh

tomorrow

yeah that's a good idea

why don't if we have a sunny day because

we really need a sunny day I mean I can

do it without it but if we have a sunny

day then if you meet me outside at about

1:30 I can do it if you don't have

anything going on then uh-huh I like

your response

today's paper Molly ever has a editor

from the Fort Worth star-telegram she

opens up by saying the Shiite Republican

plot against House Speaker Newt Gingrich

this comes a dolt

how do you react to the use of the term

she angry father well this is a that's a

good example of the introduction of

terms into our culture through the media

that that have negative stereotypes

attached to them for most people shiite

has a very negative and so he's talking

within a cultural discourse that's

understood by his readers negative

Shiite is negative and that's how it's

being introduced for an Iranian who

happens to be an American Iranian you

know he's going to be offended by that

it's part of the problem with language

is that we you know that there's an idea

I mean political correctness has a lot

of problems associated with it because

it we take it to such absurd lengths you

know but but there is an idea of just

being sensitive to people's cultures and

one of the things that the Quran says is

we create you in peoples and tribes that

you might come to know one another and

the most noblest of you are the most God

weary the Thomas Cleary one of the

things that he said about that verse is

he said that you know we talk about the

problem of racism the problem of all of

these attitudes but we've never really

examined how do we break these down and

and he thought that that Parana

conjunction there that to come to know

one another you know and this part of

what this is all about you know this is

literally trying to come to know a

tradition how do they view the world

how do you look at things as a way of

understanding of people and I think the

Muslims are as guilty as any other

people of being narrow and and and not

trying to understand other there are

some Muslims that come here bringing a

lot of their attitudes from other places

and when you come to America you have to

learn what is appropriate within this

culture you have to learn that that you

know that you're a guest in a host

country and the same would I think would

be for Americans going to a Muslim

country you know you are a guest in a

host country we in this culture we have

a saying when in Rome do as the Romans

do and there's a wisdom there in that

you you you have to recognize that there

are sensitivities now part of the

problem and this is a good example that

you've brought up is the globalization

of our world we are no longer isolated

communities the Turk is no longer the

barbarian at the gates of Vienna scaring

us right the Turk is your doctor right I

mean seriously

we're dealing in a in a world where

these barriers have been broken down

there is a great opportunity here there

is a great opportunity there's also just

as the Chinese know because they're

ideograms for opportunity is their

ideogram for crises we are in a crisis

State as well right we do have white

supremacists in this country we have a

very strong anti-semitic element in this

country we have an anti Arab sand

niggers right we have people that do

look at the world in these terms

we're trying to break this down you know

we're trying to create some civilization

here some some humanity it's a it's a

daunting task you know but hopefully we

can rise to the occasion I think this is

I mean you know we can stereotypically

say well what do you expect from Dallas

right I mean weak I can do that I say

well that's just a southern redneck

right he might be a bit sounds like he's

a liberal you

he might be excuse me she I'm sorry yeah

so they're stereotyped something like

that must come from a man so you know

the idea is that we can it's very easy

to stereotype pigeonhole people do these

things but unfortunately it creates a

lot of animosity a lot of a lot of

turbulence and trouble

the another example of that is the word

jihad which is a very very high word in

Islam it's not a low I mean seen as I'm

really in the same way we use a crusade

in in our culture a crusade is a good

thing he led a crusade against drugs in

the Muslim culture crusade it has a very

negative connotation right it does it

for english-speaking Muslims who know

the word crusade it really conjures up

people coming in and slaughtering and

attacking and pillaging the Muslim

heartland so it you know language is

very very problematic and and I

personally I you know I just this is

something we live with you know I think

being for me being an American who

became a Muslim was very interesting for

me because I grew up part of the

dominant culture I am you know I'm a

white American I went to very elite

schools in this country you know I had

very a lot of opportunities a lot of

other people didn't have but then

becoming a Muslim and seeing how you

know a lot of Americans relate to me as

a Muslim you know it suddenly changes

and I did change my name which you don't

have to I I was quite young when I

became Muslim and a name was given to me

and I took it in retrospect you know I

really don't think that you well I know

that you don't have to and I don't know

if it's really that why is it the thing

to do because I think it creates this

idea that well you have to be an Arab to

become Muslim or you have to you know

that doesn't many American Muslims that

do not change their name right but the

fact that I do have my legal name is my

Muslim name has really caused some very

interesting things to happen to me and

my wife was she's you know Native

American Mexican in

and she you know because she wears the

hijab she during the Gulf crisis she was

spat at told to go home go back where

you came from

right it was kind of ironic because you

know she I told you you need to tell him

that you don't need to get on a plane or

a boat to go back where you came from

yeah and she's from the air this her

roots are R from the Sonora Desert so

very interesting you know and she was in

a supermarket once with the Javan there

was a young Mexican girl there who said

you know the baby was in the the basket

and the woman wanted to put the

groceries into the basket and they were

both Mexican and one of them said to the

other you know in Spanish just knock him

out of the way and you know my wife was

so upset about that and she very gentle

soul she didn't say anything I told you

should have told them you know I speak

Spanish and that's not and I got upset I

went back to the store you know and I

just I saw the manager and I told him

what happened I also reminded him that a

good because it's a store right next to

a very large Muslim population they have

a lot of Muslims that buy there which is

always bottom line if you can bring that

in get some action right son I just told

him what happened he was really

horrified and and you know said he would

talk to two people but you know we

forget that that these things do happen

is very interesting occurrence is to

feel the brunt of that

you know black like me that type of

thing where you suddenly realize there

is another world of experience for other

people and for the Muslim it's just by

the fact that they're Muslim it's not

you know yeah it's very interesting so

it's it goes back to some real basic

prejudices and some basic things and

hopefully you know I tend to be an

optimist

I'm skeptical a lot of things but I tend

to be an optimist so and and the Quran

does say don't don't despair it's not a

good thing to do it's the only

unforgivable sin for the Catholics

so uh-huh don't despair again it's part

of you know if you go in the way I look

at it humanity had a beginning just like

I had a beginning as a child I've grown

into my adulthood I will grow old if I

have a full life I may even become

decrepit at the end of my life right

this is part of the natural process you

know humanity had its maturity it will

have its it's decay and it will have its

old age and it will have its decrepit

period and then it comes to an end for

something new to happen from my

perspective so you know the way the

Muslims view everything is majesty

beauty and God according to the Quran is

the possessor of majesty and beauty

they're both from God so we are in a

very majestic time we're in a time where

there's a lot of tribulation this

country alone we don't I don't think we

realize the extent of our troubles in

this country if we just look at the

natural disasters in this country you

know in the 1980s insurance companies

were paying out five billion dollars a

week a year in in terms of natural

disasters we're now paying five billion

a week you know we've had a lot of

devastation in this country just in the

last ten years just in terms of naturals

that our topsoil is disappearing right

we're grossly over using our resources

our children are really getting lost in

a lot of very confusing messes our media

is extraordinarily you know pervasive

and in its you know the violence that is

putting out there and a lot of very

negative messages in the midst of that

there are some very positive things

happening you know and I would tend to

rather be identified and be part of

what's positive than just you know what

one man said well Heidegger said as well

we're way beyond pessimism and optimism

depressions a luxury

the world's coming to an end I'm

depressed you know no this is the a

you know this is the age it's like the

way I look at it you know there's a

scene in Gone with the Wind where she's

running through Atlanta and everybody's

just stretched out you know wounded and

dead you can either run through it or

you can just sit and offer somebody

water and Pat them on the back and just

say you know we're human this is it this

is the human condition it's awesome it's

incredible it's glorious

it's majestic it's beautiful it's

intense it's tragic

it's kamek it's all these elements and

and that's part of the the power and the

wonder of the whole thing so I'm going

to choose to remain positive about it

and I hope all of you do to your

teachers you can't get depressed

you know I saw wonderful program once on

PBS which was about the black schools

and and there were very very powerful

experience but there was a white man who

had been teaching in inner cities for a

very long time in since the early 1960s

and he was just saying how bad it was

getting and that he was losing hope and

that this just the faces you know the

lack of light in these young black

children's faces in these inner cities

it was just it was driving and he was

literally saying I'm just losing hope

I'm giving up and the black man jumped

up and he said you know we've suffered

we went we went through slavery went

through coming over the you know the

great crossing he said you're not going

to tell us there's no hope we sang songs

to get us through it you know and that's

the joy of the human you know the human

being is we're people of hope like the

rats and if the rats you know can do it

you know we can do it yeah really

that's that's our greatness that we do

have hope and despite all the odds right

so let's hopefully we're not like the

people on the Titanic that think the

ship is unsinkable and get to

arrogant right the band plays on and we

all go down