A caller recounts to the Shaykh his da'wah in Belgium and the state of Islam there.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner: The importance of the year 1973.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: The immigrants were in Brussels, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, the Belgian government was guided to recognize Islam as an official religion and to include it among the official subjects in the Belgian government curriculum.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: For example, they have mathematics, just as they have a mathematics subject in French, they have a religion subject, or a religion subject where a Jew practices his religion, or a Christian studies or practices his religion, or a Muslim studies his religion, so there is no objection to this. And the Belgian government, in addition to this, O my honorable Shaykh, spends money and buys the Noble Qur'an and buys notebooks for the students and everything the students need to study the Noble Qur'an.
The Shaykh: Pardon me, what does it spend on?
The questioner : Yes?
The Shaykh: What does it spend on?
The questioner : Yes?
The Shaykh: What does it spend on?
The questioner: It spends on the students regarding, for example, if they need notebooks, or if they need a Noble Qur'an, and the Belgian government is now the one that means it pays the salary, or the wage, to the Islamic teacher in the Belgian government, so he teaches Islam, but the Belgian government is the one that pays the salaries, so it is the one spending.
The Shaykh: Well, when it recognized Islam, is the subject of Islamic education taught there?
The questioner: Yes, I teach the subject of Islamic education there.
The Shaykh : All right.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Is this study in all the schools there, or only in Muslim schools?
The questioner: Without exception, O my honorable Shaykh, without exception, all Belgian schools teach the Islamic religion without exception.
The Shaykh: Well, how is it possible to combine teaching the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian religions at the same time?
The questioner: Yes, because in its meaning there are different categories, so the students are free to choose; if, for example, an immigrant is Jewish, or a Belgian resident is Jewish, or one who has adopted the Jewish religion, he can follow it, meaning: you might find in the same class, for example, if we suppose twenty students, maybe five chose the Islamic religion, maybe ten chose the Islamic religion, and maybe five chose the Jewish religion, so it means there is freedom.
The Shaykh: I am asking from a practical standpoint, how are these and those and these taught? Does it mean in different hours?
The questioner: Yes, yes, all of this is in different hours and in different classrooms, not all the students are in the same class.
The Shaykh: Yes, that is what I intended.
The questioner: We have, for example, a schedule on Wednesday from eight o'clock to noon, we have special classrooms, and in this same schedule, in this same time, all of it is of the religion, there is nothing else, all of it is the same religion.
The Shaykh: Well, may Allah reward you: Do the Muslim students in the school perform the obligatory prayer, for example, the Dhuhr or the 'Asr, or is that not the case?
The questioner: The obligatory prayer, are you saying?
The Shaykh: Yes, I am talking about the Dhuhr prayer, for example.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: I mean, what time is Dhuhr for you?
The questioner: Now, there is a time difference with Oman; we are now at two fifteen here, in Belgium it is one fifteen, so Dhuhr is at two o'clock for us.
The Shaykh: Two o'clock?
The questioner: Two o'clock.
The Shaykh: Is there a school at two o'clock, or not?
The questioner: We have a school.
The Shaykh: Well, what do the students do regarding the Dhuhr prayer given that they are in the school?
The questioner: We mean, one can perform it, but there are no special places at these times, one can perform it at his home.
The Shaykh: I wanted to draw your attention, as you are a Muslim, if Allah wills, and a guide and teacher, perhaps you strive to revive this Sunnah, as long as you enjoy a lot of freedom, to make it part of the students' programs in the Islamic schools there in Belgium to perform the Dhuhr prayer in congregation during the break.
The questioner: By Allah, the Mighty, this is true, and if Allah wills, what do they say?
The Shaykh: That you strive for that, if Allah wills.
The questioner: If Allah wills, by the permission of Allah.
The Shaykh: And I do not think that the Ministry of Education in your country!
The questioner: No, they do not refuse.
The Shaykh: They do not refuse this.
The questioner: They do not refuse this.
The Shaykh: So then, this is up to you.
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh: Perhaps you, if Allah wills, strive, cooperating with your brothers, to revive this Sunnah in the land of disbelief.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And the reward of it and the reward of whoever acts upon it in the land of Islam will be written for you, let alone in the land of disbelief, if Allah wills.
The questioner: If Allah wills, O my honorable Shaykh, with this activity, I have a second activity, which consists of voluntary work regarding visiting prisons.
The Shaykh : All right.
The questioner: Yes, I work voluntarily, affiliated with the Muslim World League in Brussels, so I proposed to them voluntary work, so I mean, I learn from them, especially the first time, in the prison which is near this village next to me, we have been performing the Friday prayer in congregation with the prisoners since a year.
The Shaykh: Good, very good.
The questioner: And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Allah - Glorified and Exalted is He - guided us to everything, and every door we knock on, we find it open before we knock on it, because this work is voluntary, if Allah wills, and sincere for the face of Allah, as I think, in any case, this is my good intention that I spoke about yesterday, O our master.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, may Allah bless you.
The questioner: The good intention.
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The questioner: So my Lord - Glorified and Exalted is He - has guided, for example, recently, the prison director, who is a committed Christian, so he told me that he has a sum of money he wants to spend regarding Muslims in buying some books or buying some Islamic tapes, so by Allah, the Mighty, we have found nothing but good from these people.
The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!
The questioner: Yes, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and by Allah, the Mighty, O my honorable Shaykh, we have found nothing but good from them.
The Shaykh: What Allah willed, praise be to Allah.
The questioner: And a year ago, he embraced Islam - if Allah wills - a year ago he embraced Islam in this prison, and by Allah, the Mighty, by the permission of Allah - Glorified and Exalted is He - three Belgians embraced Islam in the prison, so praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, my Lord guided us to good, if Allah wills, and the most recent, for example, the reason for his Islam was that he came to meet an Islamic guide, he wanted to meet, and he sent a letter to the prison director saying: This Belgian must meet with an Islamic guide, everything, so when I came and met him, I found him a poor, desperate person, and a person who, for example, tried everything and did not get a result, so he said to me: O my brother, I am in prison now, and I am Belgian, and I did such and such and such, and even killed, meaning, and I am sorry for what I did, if I entered Islam, will the Lord of Islam, or Allah - Glorified and Exalted is He - forgive me? So I, praise be to Allah, read to him from Surat al-Furqan from verse seventy, I said to him:[Al-Furqan 25:70].
The Shaykh: Pardon me, he did a good deed!
The questioner : Yes?
The Shaykh: It is not a good deed, but rather:[Al-Furqan 25:70].
The questioner :[Maryam 19:60] .
The Shaykh :[Al-Furqan 25:70] .
The questioner :[Al-Furqan 25:70] .
The Shaykh: Perfect.
The questioner: So he said to me: By Allah, the Mighty, I did not know this ease in the Islamic religion, so I said to him: O my brother, Islam wipes out what came before it, and this and this, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and we started talking to him with the knowledge I have, the simple knowledge, so praise be to Allah, he embraced Islam after a month, he entered Islam and adopted Islam officially, and we named him Muhammad, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, even the administration, the prison administration, is very happy because there is a positive return for the prisoners, because it is clear when any psychological problem occurs inside the prison, O my honorable Shaykh, what do they do? The Christian doctor comes and gives pills!
The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar, a sedative!!
The questioner: So I said: The Islamic religion, we do not have pills, we have something called faith, and called creed, and called reliance upon Allah.
The Shaykh: Perfect, well done, may Allah reward you with good.
The questioner: By Allah, He conceals, and praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : And for that reason, I support you in what you are doing. I encourage you to expand the circle of guiding people in the school, which is established for education. If you have done the good work you did in prison, then you should do that good work in the school, set a good example for the students, lead them in prayer, and pray with them. This way, they will learn from you how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, and on the other hand, you will gather them for congregational prayer, for you have learned of the virtue of this prayer, which is his saying (peace be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 646. And in another narration: . My apologies, I have kept you too long.
The questioner : O our noble Shaykh, by Allah, we are longing for your voice.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you and reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: The immigrants were in Brussels, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, the Belgian government was guided to recognize Islam as an official religion and to include it among the official subjects in the Belgian government curriculum.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: For example, they have mathematics, just as they have a mathematics subject in French, they have a religion subject, or a religion subject where a Jew practices his religion, or a Christian studies or practices his religion, or a Muslim studies his religion, so there is no objection to this. And the Belgian government, in addition to this, O my honorable Shaykh, spends money and buys the Noble Qur'an and buys notebooks for the students and everything the students need to study the Noble Qur'an.
The Shaykh: Pardon me, what does it spend on?
The questioner : Yes?
The Shaykh: What does it spend on?
The questioner : Yes?
The Shaykh: What does it spend on?
The questioner: It spends on the students regarding, for example, if they need notebooks, or if they need a Noble Qur'an, and the Belgian government is now the one that means it pays the salary, or the wage, to the Islamic teacher in the Belgian government, so he teaches Islam, but the Belgian government is the one that pays the salaries, so it is the one spending.
The Shaykh: Well, when it recognized Islam, is the subject of Islamic education taught there?
The questioner: Yes, I teach the subject of Islamic education there.
The Shaykh : All right.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Is this study in all the schools there, or only in Muslim schools?
The questioner: Without exception, O my honorable Shaykh, without exception, all Belgian schools teach the Islamic religion without exception.
The Shaykh: Well, how is it possible to combine teaching the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian religions at the same time?
The questioner: Yes, because in its meaning there are different categories, so the students are free to choose; if, for example, an immigrant is Jewish, or a Belgian resident is Jewish, or one who has adopted the Jewish religion, he can follow it, meaning: you might find in the same class, for example, if we suppose twenty students, maybe five chose the Islamic religion, maybe ten chose the Islamic religion, and maybe five chose the Jewish religion, so it means there is freedom.
The Shaykh: I am asking from a practical standpoint, how are these and those and these taught? Does it mean in different hours?
The questioner: Yes, yes, all of this is in different hours and in different classrooms, not all the students are in the same class.
The Shaykh: Yes, that is what I intended.
The questioner: We have, for example, a schedule on Wednesday from eight o'clock to noon, we have special classrooms, and in this same schedule, in this same time, all of it is of the religion, there is nothing else, all of it is the same religion.
The Shaykh: Well, may Allah reward you: Do the Muslim students in the school perform the obligatory prayer, for example, the Dhuhr or the 'Asr, or is that not the case?
The questioner: The obligatory prayer, are you saying?
The Shaykh: Yes, I am talking about the Dhuhr prayer, for example.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: I mean, what time is Dhuhr for you?
The questioner: Now, there is a time difference with Oman; we are now at two fifteen here, in Belgium it is one fifteen, so Dhuhr is at two o'clock for us.
The Shaykh: Two o'clock?
The questioner: Two o'clock.
The Shaykh: Is there a school at two o'clock, or not?
The questioner: We have a school.
The Shaykh: Well, what do the students do regarding the Dhuhr prayer given that they are in the school?
The questioner: We mean, one can perform it, but there are no special places at these times, one can perform it at his home.
The Shaykh: I wanted to draw your attention, as you are a Muslim, if Allah wills, and a guide and teacher, perhaps you strive to revive this Sunnah, as long as you enjoy a lot of freedom, to make it part of the students' programs in the Islamic schools there in Belgium to perform the Dhuhr prayer in congregation during the break.
The questioner: By Allah, the Mighty, this is true, and if Allah wills, what do they say?
The Shaykh: That you strive for that, if Allah wills.
The questioner: If Allah wills, by the permission of Allah.
The Shaykh: And I do not think that the Ministry of Education in your country!
The questioner: No, they do not refuse.
The Shaykh: They do not refuse this.
The questioner: They do not refuse this.
The Shaykh: So then, this is up to you.
The questioner: Correct.
The Shaykh: Perhaps you, if Allah wills, strive, cooperating with your brothers, to revive this Sunnah in the land of disbelief.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: And the reward of it and the reward of whoever acts upon it in the land of Islam will be written for you, let alone in the land of disbelief, if Allah wills.
The questioner: If Allah wills, O my honorable Shaykh, with this activity, I have a second activity, which consists of voluntary work regarding visiting prisons.
The Shaykh : All right.
The questioner: Yes, I work voluntarily, affiliated with the Muslim World League in Brussels, so I proposed to them voluntary work, so I mean, I learn from them, especially the first time, in the prison which is near this village next to me, we have been performing the Friday prayer in congregation with the prisoners since a year.
The Shaykh: Good, very good.
The questioner: And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Allah - Glorified and Exalted is He - guided us to everything, and every door we knock on, we find it open before we knock on it, because this work is voluntary, if Allah wills, and sincere for the face of Allah, as I think, in any case, this is my good intention that I spoke about yesterday, O our master.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, may Allah bless you.
The questioner: The good intention.
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The questioner: So my Lord - Glorified and Exalted is He - has guided, for example, recently, the prison director, who is a committed Christian, so he told me that he has a sum of money he wants to spend regarding Muslims in buying some books or buying some Islamic tapes, so by Allah, the Mighty, we have found nothing but good from these people.
The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!
The questioner: Yes, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and by Allah, the Mighty, O my honorable Shaykh, we have found nothing but good from them.
The Shaykh: What Allah willed, praise be to Allah.
The questioner: And a year ago, he embraced Islam - if Allah wills - a year ago he embraced Islam in this prison, and by Allah, the Mighty, by the permission of Allah - Glorified and Exalted is He - three Belgians embraced Islam in the prison, so praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, my Lord guided us to good, if Allah wills, and the most recent, for example, the reason for his Islam was that he came to meet an Islamic guide, he wanted to meet, and he sent a letter to the prison director saying: This Belgian must meet with an Islamic guide, everything, so when I came and met him, I found him a poor, desperate person, and a person who, for example, tried everything and did not get a result, so he said to me: O my brother, I am in prison now, and I am Belgian, and I did such and such and such, and even killed, meaning, and I am sorry for what I did, if I entered Islam, will the Lord of Islam, or Allah - Glorified and Exalted is He - forgive me? So I, praise be to Allah, read to him from Surat al-Furqan from verse seventy, I said to him:
Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good
إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍThe Shaykh: Pardon me, he did a good deed!
The questioner : Yes?
The Shaykh: It is not a good deed, but rather:
and do righteous work
وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًاThe questioner :
Except those who repent
إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَThe Shaykh :
believe and do righteous work
وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًاThe questioner :
For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good
فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍThe Shaykh: Perfect.
The questioner: So he said to me: By Allah, the Mighty, I did not know this ease in the Islamic religion, so I said to him: O my brother, Islam wipes out what came before it, and this and this, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and we started talking to him with the knowledge I have, the simple knowledge, so praise be to Allah, he embraced Islam after a month, he entered Islam and adopted Islam officially, and we named him Muhammad, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, even the administration, the prison administration, is very happy because there is a positive return for the prisoners, because it is clear when any psychological problem occurs inside the prison, O my honorable Shaykh, what do they do? The Christian doctor comes and gives pills!
The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar, a sedative!!
The questioner: So I said: The Islamic religion, we do not have pills, we have something called faith, and called creed, and called reliance upon Allah.
The Shaykh: Perfect, well done, may Allah reward you with good.
The questioner: By Allah, He conceals, and praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : And for that reason, I support you in what you are doing. I encourage you to expand the circle of guiding people in the school, which is established for education. If you have done the good work you did in prison, then you should do that good work in the school, set a good example for the students, lead them in prayer, and pray with them. This way, they will learn from you how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, and on the other hand, you will gather them for congregational prayer, for you have learned of the virtue of this prayer, which is his saying (peace be upon him):
The prayer in congregation is twenty
صلاة الجماعة تفضل صلاة الفذِّ بخمسBy twenty-seven degrees
بسبع وعشرين درجةThe questioner : O our noble Shaykh, by Allah, we are longing for your voice.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you and reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.