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Believing in the Unseen
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In Surat al-Hujurat verse 18, Allah (SWT) says: “Surely Allah knows the Unseen of the heavens and earth. And Allah is All-Seeing of what you do.” Al-Ghaib, or the Unseen, refers to knowledge that is only known to Allah, such as knowledge about the angels and jinn, heaven and hell, and fate and predestination.
Why do we struggle to connect with and be motivated by the Unseen? Can we prove the existence of the Unseen? How can connecting with the Unseen world help us come closer to God?
Join host Mohamad Zaoud for the season four finale of DoubleTake with Dr. Omar Suleiman, founder of Yaqeen Institute.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah. In surah al-hujurat Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says Inna allaha ya'lamu ghayb al-samawati wal-ard, wallahu basirun bima ta'malun That surely Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows the unseen of the heavens and the earth and Allah is all-seeing of what you do. Al-ghayb or the unseen refers to knowledge that is only known to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala such as knowledge about the angels, the jinn, heaven and hell, and fate and predestination. Why do we struggle to connect with and be motivated by the unseen? Can we prove the existence of the unseen? How can connecting with the unseen world help us come closer to God? Seemingly complex questions in a world where we're consumed by the immediacy of what's in front of us. We scoped our network far and wide to find someone for today's episode, only to realize that a person really close to the show has devoted much of the last few years to explore the topics of the unseen, topics like angels, the judgment day and the hereafter. Today I was very fortunate to sit down with Dr. Omar Suleiman. Welcome to the season finale of season four of Double Take, a podcast by Yaqeen Institute about the questions and ideas around Islam and Muslims that give us pause. Remember to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Check out the links in the show notes to join our newsletter community and share feedback with the team. Dr. Omar Suleiman is the founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research and an adjunct professor of Islamic studies in the graduate liberal studies program in Southern Methodist University. He is also resident scholar of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center. Enjoy the episode.
Dr. Omar, As-salamu alaykum and welcome back to Double Take. Wa alaykum as-salam, rahmatullah wa barakatuh. It's good to be back. Yes, actually you've joined the elite private club as a third timer on Double Take. MashaAllah. Are you going to send me a plaque that I can put next to our YouTube plaques here in the office? Once you get to 10. Once you get to 10 inshaAllah. Who made that rule? Shaykh, there's a story in the Quran that I often think about. It's in Surat Al-Baqarah and it's a story of Ibrahim Alayhi As-salam, the great prophet, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, wa ith qala Ibrahim, rabbi arini kaifa tuhyi almawta? Where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and remember when Abraham said, my Lord, show me how you give life to the dead. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala responds, qala awalam tu'min? Do you not believe? And Ibrahim responds, bala walakin liyatma inna qalbi, that I do believe, but just so that my heart can be reassured. I find it amazing that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us an example of how a great prophet of Allah had questions about the world of the unseen. So to start today's episode, I'd like to ask you, how would you define the unseen in our religion? How would you define this concept of Al-Ghaib? BarakAllahu Fiqh. So the first thing which I think is amazing about the story that you start with, with Ibrahim Alayhi As-salam, is that as Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala Anhuma said, we have a greater right to ask than Ibrahim Alayhi As-salam, but at the same time, Ibrahim Alayhi As-salam was not responding when he says, I do believe.
He wasn't saying that this is a condition of my belief, but that this would certainly increase my iman over my iman. Meaning this would give me an added level of yaqeen, an added level of certainty in the belief in the faith. The Ghaib refers to everything that is unseen to the believer, yet the believer is commanded to believe in. So to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, there is a Ghaib that is different from our Ghaib, because the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saw things that we did not see. But even the things that he saw SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, there's another layer that he has not seen yet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, or he had not seen on the night of Isra'ul Mi'raj. So the unseen is everything that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala commands us to believe in, that is unseen to us, but we are committed to not just the belief in those things, but to acting in accordance with what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us to do. And because we trust our Lord, because we trust the messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, then we trust that everything that has been revealed to us of the unseen is just as true as things we have seen with our own eyes. And I think SubhanAllah, it's one of the beautiful things that I reflect on with Surat Al-Baqarah. And it was a recent reflection to be honest with you. I was reflecting on the last two ayat of Surat Al-Baqarah. And the last two ayat of Surat Al-Baqarah were given to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam on the night of Isra'ul Mi'raj. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saw things on that night that he had not seen before. You know, he just received all of these surahs about the prophets before him and now he's leading them in Salah. And now he's meeting them in the heavens. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam had received an entire body of ayat about heaven and hell, about, you know, scenes from the hereafter, scenes from the grave.
And now the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is seeing them after that decade of revelation of those ayat. And what you find in the end of Surat Al-Baqarah, Amana ar-rasoolu bima unzila ilayhi min rabbihi wal mu'minoon kullun amana billahi wa malaikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusuli la nufarriq bayna ahad min rusuli Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, the Prophet believes in what has been revealed to him and so do the believers. All of them believe in Allah. All of them believe in the angels. All of them believe in the books. All of them believe in the messengers. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is saying to us, you know, that your belief in these things is because you trust the one who sent this message to you and you trust the messenger that was used to deliver it to you. And so like the reaction of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq radiAllahu Anhu, and this was just a recent reflection, SubhanAllah, what was his response when he was told about Al-Israa Wa Al-Mi'raj? He said, In kana qaalahu, if the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said it, faqad sadaq, then he's told the truth. Meaning I trust the one who's saying he saw it. Therefore, it's as if I saw it. I don't need to see anything more to believe in it. And Allah Azawajal is assigning that in these ayat as a characteristic for all of the believers. We believe in our messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and we believe our messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And what he saw that night, we trust in it fully because we trust him. So the credibility of the source is even greater than our vision. I trust what the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says more than what I trust with what I see with my own two eyes. Right? Because that's his character SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And so that's the certainty that Allah Azawajal is calling us to in the Quran, that you trust the source. So it doesn't have to be that you see it,
but you have to believe in what has been revealed to you through trustworthy sources and there's no source more trustworthy. I would say in this day and age, it's more difficult to have that level of certainty. Of course, when you're around the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, you're getting live Wahi, you're hearing the stories firsthand. It is, I would say, maybe really early it was difficult, but generally when Islam was growing, there's a sense of immediacy with regards to Islam and thereby the unseen. I would say it's for my kids living in a day and age where they need to see things to believe it. They're living in such an, they're living in kind of that immediate world where they're so consumed in the day to day, what's in front of them second by second. So it's, I would say it's slightly more difficult to believe in the unseen. Would you agree with that? Not just slightly more difficult, much more difficult, which is why the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Tuuba, glad tidings to the one who saw me and believed in me. And then he said Tuuba, Tuuba, he increased the glad tidings to the one who believed in me without even seeing me. So believing, Al-Ladhina Amanu Bi Walam Yarawni, to believe in the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam without having seen him, is a greater reward than having seen him and believed in him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. That particular element, of course, we're not greater than the generation that accompanied him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. But the act of believing in him without seeing him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, is a greater act because it is more difficult. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam wondered about these people that believe in him without seeing him and long for him and would give up everything of this world to be able to see him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
So it is more difficult to believe in him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam without having accompanied him and having to decipher so much of this through the shama'il as we get it through the characteristics as we receive them. But I do want to say here that even then, let's be very clear, the Quran welcomed intellectual inquiry. It welcomed it. In fact, it encouraged it. The amount of ayat in the Quran, Afalatafakkaroon, don't you think, don't you inquire. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala calls upon us to use our brains. But Allah Azawajal tells you that there is going to be a point to which your intellect will fail you because the dimensions that your intellect is exposed to and the capacity of your intellect are limited. So Allah Azawajal is giving you enough within your dimension and within your intellectual capacity to convince you that this is indeed divine revelation. There are miracles. There are proofs of prophethood. You know, plugging in Sheikh Mohammed Al-Shanawi's book, Proofs of Prophethood, which you can download from the Yaqeen website. There are dalal al-nubuwa, there are proofs of prophethood. There are miracles of the Quran in which you are called to use your intellectual inquiry to come to the conclusion of faith. Now, once you have faith that this comes from a trustworthy source, at that point, at that point you submit yourself to that which you can't see because the source of what you can see and what you can't see is both one. Right. And so at that point, I'm convinced that it's Allah and his messenger, salallahu alayhi wasalam. But certainly the more removed I am from immediately experiencing it within my dimension, the more rewarded I am for clinging on to it. And so all of these narrations, the narration I mentioned where the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said tuba seven times in one narration, you know, glad tidings seven times to the one who believed in me and did not see me, where the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentions to the companions,
inna man wara'ikum ayyam as-sabr, that there are days after you that require great patience. And to be patient in those days is like holding on to a burning hot coal. And the one who acts in those days is one who is rewarded the like of 50 of you. Right. So the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam recognizes that because there was a dimension that you experience the messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam in this life. If you were blessed enough to be a sahabi and it came with its challenges. You know, subhanAllah, not to make this a lecture, but I think about, you know, Miqdad radiAllahu anhu when he heard the man who met him, he was a tabi'i and he said, you know, tuba, you know, glad tidings to these two eyes that got to lay themselves on the messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam. And Miqdad radiAllahu anhu admonished him. He said, you don't know how difficult it was. Right. The persecution, what we faced. So there was a great blessing to being able to lay our eyes on the messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam and to experience that element of what is otherwise unseen to the Muslims from him directly salallahu alayhi wasalam. But that came with great trial and great test. So don't sit there and just wish that I could have been there and then I would have been such a better Muslim. You don't know. You don't know. Allah put you in this time for a reason. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has customized the pathway for you back to him. So you don't know how it would have been. But certainly we wish we could have experienced laying our eyes on the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. And we long for the experience of being able to do so eternally biidhnillahi ta'ala. JazakAllah khair. So just to turn a page on the definition, you mentioned the unseen is anything that we can't see, but that we are ordered to believe in. Do we say that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala himself is part of the unseen?
Of course. We don't see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So kullun aamana billah. We believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even though we don't see him. But we know his names and attributes and we see his signs and we see his miracles and his proofs subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we experience him through our dua. JazakAllah khair. You mentioned that there will come a time ayam as-sabr, that it's difficult to hold on to faith, just as it's difficult to hold on to a burning coal. In this day and age, when having that faith is like holding on to a burning coal, how would you convince someone that there is this world of the unseen? Well, first I would ask them to suspend their desires in the sincere quest for truth. There's a connection that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes between a person being dominated by their desires and then being led to delusion. Like this is a connection throughout the Quran, that you want certain things to be true. You want certain things to be false. And if a person is sincerely pursuing the truth, they have to be disciplined in that quest for truth. And so the first thing I say to someone is, are you sincere in your pursuit of truth? Are you looking for a truth that suits your falsehood? You know, your pursuit of your desires. Because most people seek a religion for therapy. You know, they seek spirituality like the next yoga practice, the next meditation practice. But it's not a god that they can submit themselves to. It is necessarily a god that submits itself to them. Right? And so they're looking for a religion that comforts them. They're looking for a way of life, you know, an understanding of the unseen that comforts them with the seen. That makes this seen world more bearable. But then you're never going to find the truth because the truth has consequences. And in order to find truth, you have to be disciplined. And so that's why I'm saying Allah azawajal welcomes sincere intellectual inquiry.
And in fact, the Quran is so confident in itself and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is so confident in his call that you cannot approach the Quran and the seerah of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam objectively and sincerely without walking away knowing that this is the truth. Right? So it welcomes sincere intellectual inquiry. So when I talk to someone, I say, listen, first and foremost, why are you pursuing deen? Why do you want to know Islam? Because there were people in the time of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam qalu qulubuna ghulf They said our hearts are covered. Like our hearts have been protected from this stuff. So if your vessel, you know, the revelation is like rain that's coming down from the sky. If your vessel is upside down, then it's just going to keep hitting the bottom of the vessel. Right? And it's just going to keep bouncing off of it. It's not going to absorb it because you chose to turn your vessel upside down. Right? Amma zaaghu azaaghu allahu qulubahum. They turned away. So Allah turned their hearts away. So I tell people and I tell myself, first and foremost, be sincere in your intellectual inquiry. And for the Muslim that looks a little bit different once you actually embrace Islam. For a person who's not Muslim yet, what that looks like is, look, suspend your desires as much as possible and your biases and pursue the truth and read about the Quran, read the Quran, read about the Prophet's life, read the words of the Prophet's life, explore the proofs of Islam. Then once you embrace Islam, right? At that point, you still have to keep your heart sincere and pure enough to where your desires are not leading your decision making, to where you're always choosing the most convenient option to yourself. Because that's also a form of tiba' al-hawa, tiba' al-rukhas, right? Is what the scholars refer to it as following the concession. I want something to be halal. So I go online and I Google until I find the website that tells me this is halal.
And I don't care how shoddy the proof is. It says it's halal. And the Sheikh from this country I've never heard of and whose name I've never heard of, or it's some generic name like Sheikh Mohammed. So long as his neck is on the line, right? As long as I found something. So then like, that's why you'll say to that Muslim, like, hey, suspend your desires in this regard and look for what is true by following an established mechanism that protects you from letting your desires drive your decision making here. Right? So following an established scholar and established school of thought. So again, sincere inquiry is welcomed, but inquiry is inherently faulty if sincerity is missing. Well, let's say someone is sincere. Someone knocks on your door and says, look, I heard your Angel series. I'm very curious. I'm hearing about heaven and hell. I'm hearing about predestination and this whole world of the unseen. I'm sincere and I'm trying to understand how I can, حتى يطمئن قلبي, maybe they're non-Muslim, but they just want to cross that bridge of believing in this world of the unseen. Because what we describe as Muslims as the unseen is very, it's very graphic. The details are very, I mean, it's specific with regards to the unseen. So how do I cross that bridge? If I'm someone who's sincere, you're saying you need that sincere intention, but then also sincere inquiry. What does that inquiry look like? Do I need to enter Islam in order to be exposed to this world of the unseen? Or is there another path or is there a path that you could prove to me that all this exists? Well, if you realize when the Prophet ﷺ was calling people to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he wasn't starting with the most distant elements. He was starting with the most immediate elements.
And there's nothing that resonates more with the fitrah, with a person's natural inclination than the idea of one God. And then factoring that oneness of God into the coherence of the oneness of mission of prophets. And then you see the way that it all comes together so perfectly. Then you talk about the graphic details of heaven and hell. Like the Prophet ﷺ was not starting with that when he was talking to people because that was very distant from them. He was telling them about the existence of a hellfire, which in the general sense is a consequence for how you live your life here. And he was telling them about the existence of a paradise, which is a reward because some people, again, were not held back because they had any doubt in the Prophet ﷺ being a messenger of Allah. As much as they were held back by the thought of having to now give up a bunch of things, you know, that they found satisfying in this life. So the details then are of course going to be shoddy until you get into it. And then those details become more crystallized. Now I should say then the idea of liyatma inna qalbi for each person at that point is through two methods. Number one, through increasing in the dala'il, in the study of dala'il, in the study of the intellectual proofs of Islam. And number two, through experiencing the sweetness of iman. So through furthering themselves in ibadat, and not necessarily in that order, by the way, these are two pathways once a person kind of gets into it. And so I give people this example, you know, I remember, you know, when prominent da'is, and I won't name names, but you know, they'll go to college campuses. And it's like, I'm sure you have this dynamic in Australia too. It's supposed to be a lecture for non-Muslims, but it ends up being attended by 95% Muslims.
And so the da'i or the sheikh is literally speaking about a fundamental topic in Islam, a foundational topic in Islam, but he's saying it in a way that's so convincing that it raises my iman. Like this gives me even more certainty, right? It's like I come away from this, even though I already knew this stuff, but I come away more convinced. My heart has been even further settled with Islam. It's not that I don't already know these things. I just, I believe them even more. That's one form of nourishment, right? And then tadabbur, tafakkur, ibadah, tahajjud, right? These ideas of contemplation, reflection on the verses of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and praying with them at night, that just nurtures it even more. It becomes experience. The sweetness of iman becomes an experienced reality to where it becomes like Sayyidina Ali radiAllahu Anhu is talking about, you know, like, like I already believe in heaven and hell as if I could see them, you know? And that's what ihsan is, excellence. And this is a point that I actually hope doesn't, inshallah ta'ala, go missed. Yaqeen, which is certainty, is a pursuit of certainty, intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, an entire pursuit of certainty. Ihsan, ihsan is the practice of certainty. It's the practice of yaqeen in the realm of worship and just your realm of a'mal, your realm of deeds. And that's why the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, when he asked, or when he was asked by Jibreel A'islam, tell me what ihsan is, what excellence is, he said that you worship Allah as if you can see him. And when you know that you can't see him, then you know that he sees you. So it gets to that point where it's, it's become such an experience that it's as if you can see him.
So you worship Allah as if you can see him. You read about Jannah, An-Nar, Paradise and Hellfire as if you can see them. You read about the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and you study the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and you live the sunnah of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam as if you can see him, as if you're one of the companions of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. It becomes a perceived reality that is acted upon to where the only thing that's left now is that the veil, kashafna anka ghitaak, the veil of this dunya comes off and you see what you've already been believing in and acting towards. I always get fascinated, Dr. Omar, with two people studying the same science, modern science, and one person comes to the conclusion, see, there's no God, there's no unseen. And the other person says, see, there is a God, there is the unseen. And I find that very fascinating. SubhanAllah, the doctors, like it's amazing to me. You see someone like you said, who becomes a doctor and like they're talking about all the intricacies of how we've been created and wired and they walk away with that. There is no way that there isn't a God, right? Even when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says that he created you, thumma as-sabeela yassara, and then he made the way easy for you. And Ibn Abbas SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions that's two ways, as in the path of Islam, as well as literally the path out of your mother's womb. And I remember a doctor telling me like, you know how many ways a baby could die? And SubhanAllah, there is no way that we were born without a God. Like everything that could go wrong gets, yet somehow SubhanAllah, here we are, right? The people that are scientists, my father is a science professor, and I know that his science, his study of science has made him a better believer. He talks about the intricacies of chemicals and the creation and physics and SubhanAllah, it makes him a greater believer. And then you see that person who's so arrogant, you know all this, you know all this, min ayi shay'in khalaqa, where did you come from? Who gave you the intellectual capacity to unravel this? Who brought this into existence?
You truly could go to an Ivy League university and, you know, a Bedouin in a desert who's an illiterate is smarter than you. Because the soundness of how their exposure led to a sound conclusion, it just makes so much more sense, ironically, than how your study led you to the most idiotic conclusion that could possibly be, which is that it's all coincidental and random. SubhanAllah, you mentioned Shaykh that scientific pursuits, intellectual pursuits and study is welcomed, and I have to admit to you that there's one thing that's always in the back of my head when I come to certain verses in the Quran, where Allah says that a day with Allah is like 50,000 years of what you can't hear on this earth, and that in the day of judgement, the sun is like just an arm's length away. These things I believe in because I'm a Muslim, I like to believe that I'm sincere in my Islam, and so I did the leap of faith decades ago, Alhamdulillah. But the more I read into topics of science, modern science, I'm actually curious to know how far we need to go, or we can go as Muslims, for what Ibrahim was trying to pursue, which is the contentment of the heart in believing the unseen.
So for an example, you study two twins, a pair of twins, one of them stays on earth and the other one travels at the speed of light, theoretically, for 80 years into space. 80 years later, the kid on earth is 80 years old, and the other kid has only travelled for one day, is only one day older. And that's real, I mean this is what modern science teaches us, and this is what I guess most scientists agree. When I look at that and I reconcile it with our belief that a day with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is like 50,000 years, it's plausible. I don't have to imagine anymore, I believe that this can be true. So my question to you is, doctor, to what degree is this inquiry welcome, and where do I need to draw the line and say, you know what, this is the unseen, Allah knows the unseen, I don't know it and I need to believe it. So I would say that the proof that Islam welcomes rational inquiry and scientific inquiry is the fact that Muslims were at the forefront of the creation of, or the formation of, almost every scientific method that is used today. And were at the forefront of medicine and mathematics and things of that sort, and they were also Islamic scholars, because they understood that it was actually a call from within their religion to increase their knowledge of these sciences, and then to produce out of them that which is of benefit, and all of that is then credited back to the one who gave them the ability to inquire in the first place.
It goes back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, both the process as well as the fruits of that process. So we have a history that proves that, a tradition and a history that proves that, that we never saw a contradiction between the two. However, what Islam argues is that knowing the limits of your rational inquiry is actually one of the greatest ways to unlock its genius, because once you know at what point you stop, you know, your guidelines, that there is a point now that I cannot get past, and I'm going to operate with what I have, with what is accessible to me, and I'm going to relinquish control over what I can't even begin to understand to the one who I know does understand, and that allows you to focus on your part rather than constantly being in a state of crisis and turbulence. And I think that, you know, that's where it is my belief, and I'll say this subhanAllah, that I become more convinced of this every single day, that the one who knows Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and knows Allah's names and attributes, almost every faith crisis that is posed as a primary faith crisis today becomes secondary or non-existent, because it is, you know, dissolved, not just resolved, dissolved in your understanding of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and who he is. And that's the greatest gift Allah can give to us. And I give you an example, the way you started your question, and I know you were posing it as a hypothetical, so I'm not putting you in, but the companions asked the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam a question, because realize the companions were the ones that were learning the limits in real time, at what point they can't go further, because they were asking the questions that needed to be asked in real time, and Allah azawajal was revealing the limits in accordance with their questions. So when the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam talked about the Day of Judgment, and he said, salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, that some people will be walking on their faces on the Day of Judgment.
Tell me how that's plausible, people walking on their faces. So when they asked the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, how will they walk on their faces? The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam did not say, well, don't you know about some people that lived 3000 years ago in the mountains of Yemen, that had a certain type of nose structure that allowed them to walk on their faces. He said, the one who caused people to walk on their feet will cause people to walk on their faces. Allah, Al-Qadir, you know, like, why do you even need to go further into specifics, you know, your limits at this point, the one who caused them to walk on their feet will cause them to walk on their faces. It's as simple as that. And so knowing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows you to know your limits and then allows you to operate in the most brilliant way within your limits while being fully satisfied with that which is outside of your limits. And that is a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I don't bother myself with this stuff. You know, people come up and they ask like very specific questions about Dajjal. And where is he going to fall and where is the island or Yatjuj and Matjuj, where are they hiding? Or, you know, how did Isa alayhi salam live and not die? And how is he going to come back? And I'm like, I actually don't care because I know it's true. I don't need to exhaust myself with this intellectual exercise that's going to result in me possibly being dumber than when I first started. Like I'm happy with where I am knowing that Dajjal is a reality. So I need to make sure that I don't fall victim to Dajjalah, to delusions and deceptions that would make me more vulnerable to Dajjal. I really don't care where he is right now. I just hope that I don't encounter his fitna and fall prey to it. Yatjuj and Matjuj, I don't care where they are. If they come out as Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us through the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, then I hope I'm ready. Right? Like I want to be ready for these things.
So I'm going to operate with what's within my limits and not exhaust myself with these quote unquote intellectual exercises. So belief in ghayb, belief in the unseen, with trust in Allah subhana wa ta'ala actually gives a really great sense of peace of mind. I don't understand. And you know what? I'm okay not understanding. You know, another worldly example is that look, when I get my phone, okay, or this camera or this laptop, I'm really not interested in understanding every wire, every process. I just don't care. Does it work? It works. The manufacturer clearly has something going. It works. Alhamdulillah. It's a gift from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. I trust Allah more than I trust the one that designed my phone and designed my laptop. And I trust the wiring. I'm okay with it. Alhamdulillah. But I think the point would be for if you are interested in pursuing the finer details, Islam doesn't stop that. It welcomes you from opening the laptop and uncovering and trying to understand how it's built. And find out how to make a better laptop for the benefit of people. Sure. Right? Find out how to use what you have access to and what you can understand. Refine your intellect, grow your understanding. This is all a gift from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Allathee allama bilqalam, allama alinsana ma lam ya'lam. He taught by the pen and taught man that which he knows not. We are told to exhaust our intellect for that which is beneficial. Just as we're taught to exhaust our bodies for that which is beneficial. Exhaust your heart for that which is beneficial. So by all means use what you have access to because that's a blessing from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Your brain is a gift from Allah. Your brain is a gift from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Alhamdulillah for this ability to process things. And it's not a gift that everyone has full access to in terms of mental faculty. Alhamdulillah for what we have. Use it to produce benefit for people.
Instead of using it, either killing it by killing brain cells by doing things that are of no benefit or exhausting your intellect with that which is not accessible to you in the first place. Sheikh I often worry about my faith but I worry even more for my kids. And in this world, you know us growing up and reading in the Quran that there are castles in paradise and rivers under the castles. And I mean that's it's motivating that in the hereafter you're going to have a better house and whatnot. For my kids it's like they read that or we describe that and they're like that's like my the holiday house in Bali that we went to. And they're starting to see a lot more. They're starting to imagine a lot more. The metaverse is you know helping them imagine whole new worlds. They watch I don't know Avatar and it takes their imagination to a whole new world. How do I... Are you being facetious by using a whole new world by the way? I think it's 8.30 in the morning. It's one coffee in so I'm struggling with my... It's clever if you are. Aladdin, a whole new world. A whole new world yeah. That's pretty funny. So just to come back to the kids like how do I get them to appreciate what Allah describes in the hereafter. You know when he even describes hellfire and the radical graphic nature of hellfire and the punishment.
I mean one game, one fortnight, whatever they're playing these days. They're already accustomed to that type of thing. So how do I get them to appreciate the unseen in a world that's exposing them to a lot more than the physical material world that they exist in. So that's a great question and something that I often think about. And first and foremost it's important for us to be aware of the condition of what's happening right. When our vision is overly stimulated then our minds are less stimulated. Our ability to manufacture images from within with our brain, with our own introspection, with our own reading is taken away from us because someone's doing all of that creation of imagery for us. And that over stimulation is inherently not healthy. And so you'll even read in child psychology the importance of reading books right and having your kids read books that they can still be able to exercise that right. Still be able to create images from words rather than have those images constantly created for them because that's an inherent function that is within them. And if it is not used properly then it will go away. And so the only thing they'll crave is more visual stimulation and more visual stimulation while losing the ability to generate imagery from within. And the idea of reading the Quran with tadabur and tafakkur is that the imagery is coming from within constantly as you're reading with contemplation, introspection, reflection. So that's why again the emphasis on reading rather than watching all the time. That's just a pure psychological you know bare recommendation that you constantly see across the board. The importance of still having your kids read rather than constantly watch things.
Now for us as Muslims more specifically connecting them to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, connecting them to their blessings, the source of their blessings. So a constant reminder where did these blessings come from? They came from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Who provided this for us? Allah provided this for us. So constantly being able to go back to those blessings from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then thinking about the signs or connecting them to the natural world around them by taking them outside, connecting them to the signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allowing them to appreciate the brilliance of those signs and the greatness of the one who created those signs. So connecting them to the natural world is also very important and then sourcing that back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And I'd say look I mean limiting the movies like look a parent is guilty of this. I know I'm guilty of it at times. Sometimes to just silence your child you just hand them a phone, hand them an iPad, hand them a computer, put them on a TV screen. Just try to you know put something on there just to get them quiet so that you can do your work. But we have to do less of that so limiting screen time is very important so that they know how to generate imagery from within rather than constantly have it generated for them. Sheikh Ammar you have a fascination with angels. I mean some da'is and mashayekh would do maybe an episode on angels. You did not just one series but two and I'd like to hear about that. I'd like to hear about what fascinated you with angels. Alright so first of all I'm going to give you the secret ingredient to my Ramadan series alright. All I'm doing is I'm taking arkan ul iman, the pillars of faith and I'm making them practical for people. Allah, Allah loves Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam meeting Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Angels, angels in your presence right. So what are the things Allah loves, the traits that you can have.
What are the ways that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would impress you with his character that you would notice from him and how can you have those characters. What are the traits that bring angels into your life. You know Quran 30 for 30 is an ongoing thing of connection to the Quran. The day of judgment, deeds that light the way. So that's all I'm doing is I'm just taking the pillars of faith and I'm talking about the practical implications in our lives. Now my fascination with angels in particular, it actually started with a fascination with a very particular angel which is Jibreel alayhi salam. So I actually became very fascinated with Jibreel alayhi salam. And I spent a good portion of a better part of two years of my life just studying Jibreel alayhi salam. Honestly it became like a fascination and almost an obsession of sorts of just studying Jibreel alayhi salam. Because he's so present and overwhelming in the seerah of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. But there isn't a single book that's been written about him. So I was like I just need to study Jibreel alayhi salam and study Jibreel alayhi salam's interaction with all the prophets. So I went through every mention of Jibreel alayhi salam in tafsir, every mention of Jibreel alayhi salam in the ahadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And then I started sorting that all out. So it really became a fascination of the best of angels and his relationship with the best of mankind and the best of Allah's creation Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Then it sort of grew into well that's Jibreel alayhi salam the best of angels relationship with the best of humanity and the best of creation Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. What's our interaction like as all humanity with that entire realm of angels. And it came from like it was a very simple realization. Most Muslims are fascinated by the topic. Actually I'll ask you what are the topics that most Muslims want to talk about all the time. Fascinations. I'm going to interview you man I'm going to grill you. I know it's early in the morning for you in Australia.
What do you think? Fascinations, belief in Allah, Quran. No man you're being too nice. Maybe it's Australian Muslims but do you guys have fascination with jinn? Oh absolutely. Absolutely and I avoid them as much as possible. That's good. You're a smart man mashallah. So you know it was a basic realization. There are far more angels than there are jinn. Just by the calculations that are given to us the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioning there is not a single part of the heavens. A hand span except that there's an angel standing bowing prostrating to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala glorifying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. In our lives just the malaika that are protecting us and that are writing for us that are with us at all times. There are far more angels than jinn. Far more malaika than jinn. And there are specific deeds that invoke the favor and presence of those angels. And what a beloved creation to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And they love what Allah loves. They hate what Allah hates. They love whom Allah loves and they hate whom Allah hates. So I was like you know I really want to explore this and dive deep into this. And subhanallah it just so happened that angels one ended up being recorded in the COVID era. Now mind you I'd already prepared this series. I prepare my Ramadan series a year in advance. So I start working on every Ramadan series the Ramadan prior for the next year. So I'd already prepared this series way in advance and then COVID hits. Where people are feeling lonely and isolated. And the whole series is about how you have this extraordinary creation that's constantly around you when you're doing good deeds. We actually recorded the angel series. You know when COVID first happened where it was like you know people were afraid to touch doorknobs and like two people can't be in a room like at the same time.
The filming crew was recording with the exception of one person was recording virtually editing out. So there's only one person in the room with me and super paranoid because this was the very beginning of COVID. And Alhamdulillah it became a source of benefit for people. And it matched the isolation that people were feeling. To know that they have angels the size of mountains around them when they put forth good deeds. And to know that that's a close connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and a very practical one. Alhamdulillah was something that I pray Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continues to make beneficial to people. Because many people still feel isolated and becomes a means of connecting them to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. JazakAllah khair. Shaykh one final question usually a very easy one before we get into the rapid fire. My nine-year-old niece comes to you Shaykh and she says look. Is she ever going to grow up man? Look the thing is I have. Can you at least map this out like year by year? So that's the genius. I have 32 nephews and nieces. So usually one of the nieces is nine years old. So I'm sure I'm telling the truth. Alright. Actually next year my daughter will be nine. Mashallah, mashallah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect her. JazakAllah khair. So an easy question from my niece who's nine years old. She comes to you Shaykh and says look. I believe in Islam. I care for it. I believe in the Quran. I believe in Allah and I believe in the Prophet ﷺ. But all this talk about you know angels around me and certainly jinn being around. It's weird. I'm not sure I kind of believe in it. What's your message to my nine-year-old niece? So I have a nine-year-old son now. Mashallah. So I'll use that in a second.
So how would I talk to my son about it instead of your niece? Same thing right? But you know it's very interesting because I actually had a conversation with my son recently about this. So I don't know if this would work with your niece but it certainly was beneficial to my son. I said Baba you're reading about you know molecules and atoms and things in the air and things that are around you that you can't understand right? Even in the food and drink that you can't see right? Yeah and you trust it because your science teacher says it and that's what the textbook says right? Yeah and I said don't you trust Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala more when he tells you about the things that are around you and he created it? He created this air that you breathe. You know he created this water that you drink. He created all of this. So don't you trust that? And then sometimes I also invoke the you know the usage of animals. My son loves animals. I remember we were at the zoo and the zookeeper was talking about how the bald eagle can read the fine print of a newspaper six football fields away. Allahu Akbar. Like imagine our vision in Jannah bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. Six football fields away it could read the fine print of a newspaper. I said see just because you see doesn't mean you really see right? And so that's why the very beginning of the Quran is Allatheena yu'minoona bilghayb wa yuqeemoona as-sana wa mimma razaknaahum yunfiqoon Those who believe in the unseen and they establish the prayer and they establish charity. Once again connecting it back to Allah subhana wa ta'ala and his capability rather than our capability. JazakAllah khair. Let me know if it works with your niece. I will try and I will let you know. BarakAllah fiqh. We are going to switch gears to the rapid fire section. You've had plenty of runway. You've practiced this twice before so inshallah it should be very easy.
But because it's so easy we're going to kind of complicate the questions. We'll start with the easy ones go to complex. So we'll start with the last book that you were reading. The last book that I was reading. Alright I'm going to give a shout out here. 40 hadith on wealth and earning by Sheikh Joe Bradford. It's actually the last, you had Sheikh Joe on double take. It's a nice book mashaAllah he wrote and he gifted to me on his last trip here alhamdulillah. It was just on hadith 22. Awesome. What do you prefer basketball or football? Watching or playing? Both. Both. First of all are we talking about American football or are we talking about soccer? I mean I knew this was going to come up. Let's say American football. American football. So watching American football, playing basketball. But I'm really starting to enjoy flag football. I've been playing flag football a lot recently in the last few years. It's a habit I picked up so I'm starting to enjoy it. So on a good weather day I say flag football. On good weather day. Working out before iftar or after iftar? Before iftar or after taraweeh. So on Ramadan my favorite time to work out is after taraweeh. But if I know that I'm not going to be able to work out after taraweeh I work out before iftar. After iftar sounds like a terrible idea especially if you eat a lot of desi food. Which I do on Ramadan because I'm usually at a fundraising banquet or at the masjid or something like that. So it's a lot of biryani and haleem. Burping out while you're working out is not a good idea. You're sitting with a 20-year-old Dr. Omar. Your one piece of advice? As of right now I say learn more from my father. SubhanAllah the wisdom of my father, Hafidahullah Ta'ala, 80 years old and just full of wisdom. And I wish I learned more from his wisdom.
So learn more from the wisdom of your father. Two questions that are off script so feel free to can them. You recently did an episode with Lex Friedman. Would you have done anything differently? You know that episode with Lex Friedman was definitely a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Alhamdulillah we've had many people actually that have come to the masjid. We had someone drive down from Arkansas to embrace Islam Alhamdulillah. So it exposed many people to Islam. I think that there wasn't much I could have done to prepare because it was meant to be a free-flowing conversation. Alhamdulillah he didn't really antagonize in any way. I would say that I probably would have gone into even more detail on the Palestinian cause. And some of its intricacies because it's so rare that the Palestinian case gets presented on a mainstream platform. Absolutely. Without interruption. So he gave me a lot of leeway and I think that's even why the beginning of the episode he had to put that clip there. Because he did get a lot of heat for it. But our voices as Palestinians are so suffocated by Zionist influence that I probably should have even gone further. And kept on going and talking about it until he cut me off. You went further than many. Jazakallah khair. One final question. And I don't even know if I can even ask this but if you were to have an angel over for dinner. And not Angel Jibreel because I know you're fascinated with him and you studied him first. Who would it be? What would you talk about? First of all angels don't eat or drink. That's why Allah ta'akuloon right? Ibrahim A.S. said aren't you going to eat? For Ramadan. They don't eat in Ramadan either. Okay. But if I could talk to an angel other than Jibreel A.S.
It would have to be at that point Israfil. Israfil A.S. is Malakun Azeem. An incredible angel. So I would talk to him. And I would I think that it would be a very humbling conversation. Sheikh Omar Jazakallah khair for joining Double Take once again. I really appreciate it and the audience really appreciates it. We look forward to inshallah having you many more times. For those that have been listening and watching Double Take season 4. We appreciate your patience with us. We hope you enjoyed the episodes and inshallah we'll see you in season 5. Jazakallah khair. Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
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