Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah and Sheikh Hamza Yusuf

Between ignorance and extremism


For the sake of Allah Subhanu wa Ta’ala, I have come a long way

What does being Muslim mean?

How do we face the difficulties in this country? We submit to will of Allah Subhanu wa Ta’ala

We have been able to build mosques and buildings here

We have safety and security

Remove, some the black clouds that have gathered

He hopes that we become people who love for the sake of Allah Subhanu wa Ta’ala

The world’s eyes are upon us

We shouldn’t be afraid of answering the questions that are being asked

Islam is submission and we are a peaceful people. Salam is an abode of peace and from this peace is our deen

How do we retain our identity?
How do we create a Muslim environment?
Your house should be a Muslim house

Ismail (upon him peace) commanded his family to pray

Not everyone is against us

The Sheikh was impressed with some people who he has met, they are concerned about us

Their harm is not limited to themselves, they are affecting us as well

Our nation is a middle nation, we should be a balanced community

We need to be balanced and know that balance is hard to maintain

We should not be extreme or arrogant

Don’t make this deen hard

The Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) is a mercy to the worlds. How can we replicate it? By patience and piety and then it needs to be maintained

A mercy doesn’t change nor anger

He (peace and blessings be upon) is a mercy to animals

He said (peace and blessings be upon), “Be with the people with the best of character.”

Have you not seen the fruits it has different colours and tastes

There are changes from night to day, from darkness to light

The middle path is difficult, the naafs inclines to the extreme, doing too much
or too little

Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “ The deen is between doing too much and too little.”

This is what destroyed the people before us

Extremism comes from ignorance

We need to follow the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon) character.

The definition of the Prophets (peace and blessings be upon) character is mercy

What is distinct is his patience, tribulation from the people is normal. Be patient forgive and overlook.

He (peace and blessings be upon) called people to the deen. After Ta’if he (peace and blessings be upon) prayed for the people who hurt them. Mercy isn’t punishment

A female dog gave birth of the road whilst the army were passing. He (peace and blessings be upon) appointed a guard to protect the puppies. The dog was suckling her new born

At the conquest of Mecca he (peace and blessings be upon) said, “I hold no blame on you today and you are all give amnesty.”

Speak beautifully to people not just to Muslims but also to all humanity, treat people with the best of character

Recognise differences, if we don’t recognise them, we won’t be able to raise ourselves up

Part of Allah’s Subhanu wa Ta’ala creation is difference. Fruits come from the same source but they are different

You can see the diverse colour and Satan wants everything to be the same

We need to have a culture of tolerance

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon) stood up when the dead body of Jewish man was being taken for burial. When asked why he stood up, he said (peace and blessings be upon), “Isn’t he a soul?”

Your Lord is one your father (Adam (upon him peace))is one, no Arab is better than a non-Arab except in Taqwa

This world is for the worshippers of Allah (Subhanu wa Ta’ala)

It is a right of the people to have human rights

Human dignity

Humans are like teeth on a comb

Call people with gentleness, debate with people in a beautiful way. There are good ways to talk to people

Lands belong to Allah Subhanu wa Ta’ala and his servants, are the servants of Allah Subhanu wa Ta’ala, you can reside anywhere

Know that your blood and property are sacred. He (peace and blessings be upon) said at the final pilgrimage, he (peace and blessings be upon) encouraged men to treat their women well, he removed interest from himself (peace and blessings be upon peace and blessings be upon) and his uncle Abbas (May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him). He (peace and blessings be upon) removed the blood writ

People have right and these should be represented. In the Muslim lands, other religions used to have their own courts, Jews had their own courts. Leave them to their own judgements but if you judge do it right

As long as breaches didn’t occur, non-Muslims were left alone

Being a good citizen is part of Islam

Accept other people and be good to people

Co-operate with non-Muslims when they do good but in war but in good behaviour

In a positive way not a negative way

Tolerance is a positive

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon) said, “Love for your brother, what you love for yourself.” He (peace and blessings be upon) also said if he was called to an alliance he would’ve gone to it because it helped the weak and suppressed.

He (peace and blessings be upon) didn’t want to fight people in Mecca

We are looking for common factors, we desire good for each other
Our deen is tolerance

How can we hold onto our deen? Strongly

The Muslims are neither oppressors nor people who hurt each other

He (peace and blessings be upon) let Ethiopians dance in his Masjid, “Leave them, this is one of their practices.” He (peace and blessings be upon) said to Umar (May Allah be pleased with him)

We need to teach the prayer, in our houses

Ibn Tayyimma said, “Jihad is defined as all good actions.”

Stop oppressors, a Muslim lives in peace with others

A Muslim isn’t the angry one, he (peace and blessings be upon) advised a man to remain quiet

How do we realise this tolerance?
Return harm with good, good and bad are not the same
He (peace and blessings be upon) forgive and overlooked

A Jew wanted to see if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon) had patience and when he saw it. The Jew said, “I saw that you had all these qualities except one.”

Islam is not monopoly for one nation, or for example we own it. Its for everyone

Ignorance is of two kinds one that someone is aware of and one that is compounded

Ignorance is the opposite of intelligence

They learn a little and to extremes, by being judgemental

Know the text and the principles

Fiqh is a craft it takes time and tools to acquire

If they study law, they can be a judge

The Abyssinian king was just and the deen entered that country

Patience is beautiful

It’s like the man who wrote the cartoons but he didn’t know who he was writing about

In these lands you should be like the first Muslims, call these people to virtue

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon) prayed over the Abyssinian (may Allah’s mercy be with him).
We should be friendly they’ll help us and we should help them and over look their faults

The people who try to disgrace the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon) is like trying to blow out the sun with your breath

None of the slander will get to him (peace and blessings be upon).

If people see us they should recognise the good comes from this religion with his (peace and blessings be upon) methodology, he (peace and blessings be upon) returned wrongs with good actions

We should behave like our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon)