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