fbpixel

Take 30 seconds to give for 30 days.

Methodology (usul)

S2E7 - Is Islam Difficult? | DoubleTake

December 1, 2021Dr. Tesneem Alkiek

Have you ever felt it was difficult to follow Islamic practices? Learning about Islam is a necessary part of every Muslim’s faith journey, but sometimes, we come across rules and recommendations that may feel confusing or overwhelming. We might feel like our day-to-day experiences in the West clash with our practice of Islam and make our lives feel more difficult.

What should we do when we feel burdened by Islamic rulings and recommendations? How can we make sense of rules that feel disconnected from our perspectives and daily lives? How can we understand the wisdom behind rulings that we find difficult to follow?

Join Mohamad Zaoud as he explores these questions and more with Dr. Tesneem Alkiek, Director of Expanded Learning at Yaqeen Institute.

Listen on:
Apple
Google
Spotify

Don't forget to follow us! Instagram: @yaqeenpodcast Facebook: facebook.com/yaqeenpodcast

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah. There are a lot of rules in Islam. Personally, I grew up like many people in my circle being told that our religion is pretty straightforward, pretty simple. And by and large it is. But the deeper you explore our religion, the more you're exposed to the vast world of sunnahs, of rules, of recommendations, of practices. And sometimes we come across rules and recommendations that make us feel confused or overwhelmed. For a busy bee living in the 21st century, juggling between work, family, health, and strenuous social circles, what happens when we feel burdened by Islamic rulings and recommendations? How can we make sense of rules that feel disconnected from our perspectives and our daily lives? How can we understand the wisdom behind rulings that we find difficult to follow? That's what I wanted to find out from Dr. Tasneem Al-Keeq, our guest for today's episode of Double Take. Double Take is a podcast by Yaqeen Institute about the questions and ideas around Islam and Muslims that give us pause. Before we jump in, please remember to subscribe and rate the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It makes a big difference. And please share your thoughts directly with our team using the link in the description. Let us know what you like, what you dislike, and what you want to see more of. Dr. Tasneem has a PhD in Islamic Studies with a focus on the development of Islamic law from Georgetown University. She completed her undergraduate degree in early Christianity and Islamic studies. And at Yaqeen, she develops curricula and other resources for communities to engage with Yaqeen's research. Enjoy the episode. Dr. Tasneem, Assalamu Alaikum and welcome to Double Take. Wa Alaikum Assalam. It's great to be here with you guys. I can't believe it's taken this long to have you on Double
Take. Inshallah, this is the first of many. Dr. Tasneem, I personally enjoy learning about my faith and I learn things every day that inspire me to do more good deeds and work toward my afterlife. This season alone, I've had a renewed motivation to study and reflect on the Quran, for example. But sometimes learning seems to have the opposite effect. It feels like Islam has given us rules and recommendations we have to follow for everything in life. We're told how to do everything from waking up to going to sleep and everything in between. And in Surat Al Baqarah, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that He desires ease for us and not hardship. And we know that the Prophet ﷺ was sent as a mercy, not just to human beings but to all creation. But sometimes it just feels like having a lot of rules is making life more difficult. And if Islam is supposed to make my life better, how do I manage the feeling of being burdened by too many rules? That's the topic of today and that's your first question. That's a great question. And I think that there's so many different ways to answer the question. We can talk about how no, Islam is great and not everything's a burden. But I think what we really need to get at is why we're asking this question in the first place. What is it that, you know, leads to the way we think about religion today that makes us view our responsibilities within religion as a burden? And that goes back to just a couple centuries ago with the Enlightenment. So in the Western world you have a few major events that really changed the history of the world. You have the French Revolution, you've got the Protestant Reformation, and then around the 19th century you've got what is known as Enlightenment. And really as a way to summarize it, it's
just like, it's this time where people are moving away from religion and really taking science much more seriously. That scientific theory, scientific method, this is really what gives us reason and rationality and this is how we think about the world, among various other things that are happening. But this is really important because what happens is that religion for the first time in really all of history, and I say religion here as the idea of worshipping something. It doesn't necessarily have to be an Abrahamic religion, but you know, paganism, idolatry, the idea that you're structuring your life around worship of something else, whether it's a thing or a divine being, I mean that really defined history for so long. And so what happens with Enlightenment is that now we're starting to see a separation. You've got the beginning of secular thought where there's this notion which ends up becoming separation of church and state and a lot of what we see today. What happens is that you see for the first time people are now identifying religion as sort of a separate entity. That I can be a person, but my religious identity is not what defines me. Now with this sort of these seeds of thought, what's happening is that we think of religion as what we can call utilitarian. It's what utility do we derive from religion? What do we gain out of religion? And if religion doesn't benefit us, then we sort of put it to the side. And so today, when we see in society today, how is religion used? Religion is used when, you know what, I'm at a low point and I really need help. Religion is used for that Sunday service, that you know, once a week service that I'm going to go ahead and you know, have a sense of community. Religion is used for, you know, for family, but it's always, you're talking about a purpose. And that is so counterintuitive to identity of
a Muslim because as you mentioned, Islam, it's not just a religion as other religions are defined, but it provides a way of life. If I understand you properly, you're saying society is moving away from religion as a way of life to something that happens kind of privately as part of your life, or a certain, you know, part of your life, but it's certainly not your whole life. I get that. But I have a burning question, like as a practicing Muslim, I'm asking you as someone who is practicing, you're, mashallah, heavily involved in the output of yaqeen. And so I can just imagine that you're, you're effectively trying your best in practicing all the rules of Islam. Don't you feel, Dr. Tasneem, that Islam has too many rules? Don't you feel it? So I think, you know, I know, I don't think Islam has any rules. I think that's a short answer. But it's because I don't think of what I have to do as Muslim as rules as limitations. It's really important, you really have to have the mindset there that religion isn't there to serve your needs. But you are there to serve religion, you are there to serve God as part of your religion. And so really, the way that we really need to conceptualize our relationship is that, in a way, it's utilitarian, because we're getting benefit, but we're also, it's also about giving back. And you think about all of the rules, right? All the quote unquote rules, there's what you when you look at Islam holistically, and everything that you're required to do from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep, they all bring benefit to us in this life. And I think that's what's so unique about Islam compared to any other religion. And you're saying, like, these rules are supposed to benefit me get me closer to Allah subhan
taala. There's a there's a specific rule that me personally, I, I'm a little bit uncomfortable with, okay. There's many, but there's one that I wanted to raise. Every Ramadan, I'm praying taraweeh, right? I'm reading Quran, I'm doing as much as I can to be my best self in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then I see my wife, who just because she has, you know, she goes through menstruation, part of Ramadan, she doesn't have that opportunity, she can't, she can't pray taraweeh. And there's certain other things she can't do. And I feel like, that's, that's a very heavy rule, you know. So what happens when I dig a little bit deeper in our religion and uncover rules that make me feel a little bit uneasy, you know, because I can't see the logic? Well, in that particular question, and I think this goes to almost every question that people ask, and this is what I say, why are you thinking? Why are we asking these types of questions? When it comes to something like menstruation, and you know, the way that the relationship we have, the way we, you know, really talk about it today, I would venture to say that the reason we have so much contention and so much sort of this awkward relationship when we talk about it is because we're influenced by the Judeo Christian tradition. And in Christianity, in Judaism, really, that that the period your menstrual cycle is something that's considered inherently dirty or unpurified. And so as Muslims, we assume that's the same case for us in our religion, that that's something that we hear and that we're told. And so then when we think, oh, you can't pray because you're on your period, that that's something degrading, that's something unpurifying. And this is now I'm being relegated to my home. I mean, this is ridiculous, because historically, this was a gift for Muslim women that not
having to pray is a break. And it's not necessarily a break from from worship, of course. But I mean, I think about, you know, all of my friends who have children and the stories they have after labor, and the exhaustion that people talk about that first month after labor. And I think, subhanAllah, what an incredible blessing it is that you have the period of nifas of, you know, three weeks to, you know, 30 days to a certain period where you don't have to pray after giving birth. And that that allows you to be able to sleep through the night with the very little time you have to sleep. Same thing throughout the year, you know, when you have when you're on your cycle. And this is something that is really, I think, a blessing. And I think the only reason we don't see it as that is because we've inherited this this this Judeo Christian tradition that the greater society really revolves around. And I would just add here that what I love about it, especially in Ramadan, is that it forces you to be creative in your worship. And that makes me a more holistic person. So I think it's really about like, how are we thinking about these these questions and these issues and really thinking about it from a from sort of this optimistic perspective or looking for that source of good and you'll find it in every case. Honestly, I'm satisfied with that answer. Tick. I guess what you're what you're saying is there's there's genuine Hikmah behind every rule. So what does it require of me to appreciate the Hikmah behind some of the rules that make me feel, you know, uncomfortable? So there's a couple of things. And I think that, again, it goes back to, okay, why are we asking these questions? And I know it's gonna I'm gonna sound like a broken record by the end of this. But I think that this is really the source of so many of our problems as Muslim community, that we're asking questions that we're not forming in our heads, but what
we are being informed of, and then we start doubting. And so what happens is like, you're opening the Quran, and you know, it's Ramadan, you're trying to connect with any time of the year, and you come across a verse on, you know, inheritance laws, and we'll get to that in a second. Or you come across verses on stoning or something like that. And you're reading it. And what you're doing is you're reading it with what you can call a hermeneutics of suspicion, that you're coming in and approaching these texts with doubt whether you admit it or not. Because a lot of these, the questions that we have in our minds are in a way subconscious based again, from larger society. And this is not just a non Muslim society, this is very much a Muslim society as well. The questions we're asking are based off of what we hear time and again, and it becomes almost subconscious that even me, I'm someone who I've, this is what I want to do, I want to study Islamic studies for, you know, for the rest of my life, I find I think of myself as a committed, you know, committed Muslim, but I still open a text and I think to myself, like, well, does this really make sense? And you know, you know, this is kind of where does that come from? Where does that come from? Where does that unease come from? The hermeneutics of suspicion really comes from I mean, various sources, right, but primarily Islamophobia in general, but also distrust of religion altogether. And so when you think about when you think about approaching, you know, rulings that make you uncomfortable, I think that's really important. And, you know, we can go into a few examples. Can I go into example of inheritance? Yeah, I want that example. But I just before the example, like, you're saying that, you know, Islamophobia and many other things give you that suspicion of religion and, but for practicing Muslims, Dr. Tasneem, like our default position is Husn al-Dhan of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's that we believe that Allah wants the best for us. We actually genuinely believe that. But even with that, you know, default position, where we look
at these verses, and we're uncomfortable, like inheritance, you know, I'm a male, so I should, you know, I profit from the laws of Islam. So you think? Well, exactly right. That's that's my preconception. But, but there are rules where, you know, even with that umbrella of Husn al-Dhan and believing that this is the best thing for me, I still feel uncomfortable. So before we answer the inheritance question, which I'm really curious to hear your answer on, how do you respond to that? So anything, I mean, I think, anytime you anytime you feel sort of a little discomfort, I think that that's, that's natural, and that's okay. And I think that's what makes us again, unique, as, as Muslims, because going back to, you know, something I mentioned earlier, the whole idea of Protestant Reformation, why did Christians sort of break off from Catholicism was because they were always trained that you don't question anything. And it's very different from a Muslim's perspective that, in fact, you're welcomed, you're encouraged to be asking questions, it's okay to be feeling this way. And seeking knowledge is one of the most, you know, most rewarding things you can do as a Muslim. So it's like almost like bait, like, hey, you have a question you have, you know, you have, you have a concern, well, learn more, find out more. And this, the sort of, I don't think there's anything more satisfying in my life than when I find the answer to the question that I've been looking for, for whether it's months or years, finding that answer brings the most like settling conviction that you really you can't derive from a lecture or from asking someone else. So it's really think of these moments as an invitation to learn more, and to really try to understand as much as you can. Okay, so let's get on to inheritance, then. That's a that's a very hairy rule, you know, it's heavy. And for someone living in the 21st
century, in a Western society, it is, it's heavy, it's, it's big. And it's confusing. Why does why does a man get more than a woman, basically? So how do I come to terms with that something as basic as that, and there are many other rules, but let's just use this example, since you brought it up of inheritance. So I'm going to get to the inheritance example in a second. But before I get to that, I want to set the stage by talking about just divorce. That was that was the focus of my my graduate research and something I'm still very much interested in today. But I remember when I started reading, I you have to really be familiar with all of the academic literature, even as much Muslim literature as possible on a topic before you begin your dissertation. And I cannot explain to you the number of books that talk about how Islam is so this is ridiculous, it's not so unjust. It's so irrational. It's so dead. It's not the whole you know, the whole tirade, because what because of the divorce laws that some people have. And and here me being human, I'm being affected from my blood what I'm reading, I'm thinking to myself, geez, like, what's what's up with this, right? And, you know, what I found was so ironic. And this goes back to why do we ask these questions? Here I am reading all this stuff, I'm starting to think I'm starting, you know, starting to doubt like what's going on here. And, you know, and I'm looking as I'm trying to look explore the scene. I look into American laws, I look into Western laws of divorce for women. And lo and behold, we you have what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gives, you know, defines divorce, offers divorce rights for women back in seventh century Arabia. And it wasn't until I am not kidding you until for some US states, up until the 1970s, where a woman could even take her husband to court, let alone even initiate
a divorce. And it really, I think it just puts so much into perspective, because the so many times we ask questions, because we feel like we're in this position of inferiority, whether it's just because you're religious in general, or because you're Muslim in specific, that you know, you're being told like, well, you must be irrational, because and believe me, in undergrad, I was called out time and again in my classes that, well, okay, well, your opinion is subjective, because you have you're clearly a religious person. And I always was baffled by that, because, again, so why, you know, there's always this assumption that you're inferior, that you're lacking rationality, all of these things. And it turns out, I'm looking at the American just American history, let's not even get to the, you know, all of European history. And that, you know, Muslim women had divorce rights over 1000 years before the world. And the same thing goes with inheritance laws, because I think sometimes we kind of, we just we pass over it all inheritance laws, like, no, no, this was something that was empowering for women. And it really, really is, if you look at the context of history, and until today, what happened, what we have in the inheritance laws is infamously that you're reading through the Quran, and it's very clear that that daughters get half of what the sons get. And you get that feeling of, oh, I knew it, that here I was everything they're told they told me was true, I'm done, right. And you kind of want to just pack up your bags and call it quits. And it's really, it's ironic, because when you look at it, the idea of even getting women getting inheritance is, in France, it was the mid 20th century, we're talking decades ago. And what and I can say as a Muslim, like, inheritance laws were over 1000, almost 1500 years ago, were given to women, it's so incredibly unprecedented, especially when you look at the so called, you know, modernized and progressive West
that is so, you know, is has so much fun pointing to the Muslim world and talking about how backwards everything is. But what you look deeper, right, it's not just about that, comparing and contrasting, you look at the bigger picture, what does this how does Islam construct society? How does Islam what you know, what are the responsibilities afforded upon each individual? And, you know, it's incredibly simple that Islamically, the husband, the son, the wife, the son, the male in the family was required to spend on his family. And I know, I think it's very hard for us to recognize this, because we live in such a vastly different world today, where so in so many families, you've got two breadwinners. And so we think to ourselves, well, that's so outdated. But you think about it historically, right, that we're talking about, like all of history, they're very, there's, you can count on your fingers, a number of matriarchal societies that exist throughout history. So Dr. Tasneem, like everything you've mentioned now about the inheritance pieces is that it was progressive back then. And I appreciate that. And most, you know, everything I read were about Islam and any any of those rules that I'm mentioning that feel a little bit kind of uncomfortable for me. I know that they were progressive back then. But they're certainly not. They feel like they don't fit in the life that I live in the West at the moment, like they're very, very contra to the purpose, like the inheritance law, the idea of women actually getting inheritance back then 100% that's so revolutionary. But here, in the 21st century, in a country like Australia, for example, or the US or the UK, it's it's not progressive. And it, it makes us feel uncomfortable, especially in societies where there's two breadwinners. And you know, the the Muslim man and and the woman are actually contributing to whatever, you know, expenses that they have. You know, I think what's what's so interesting about this question is that Muslim scholars,
and like dealt with this hundreds of years ago, too. And that what happens is that this naturally arises, it's not only our society today that you know, is now confronted with, okay, well, women, you know, what about in situations where women are, are responsible for providing. And what they did was they took they took principles, they took methods within Islamic law, and they catered them to these needs. So one of the the biggest solutions that they offered to this was through what is called the waqf system, the endowment system. And what you see historically is that in order to quote unquote, balance the amount of wealth that a daughter inherits, that men, what you would have is that male male family members would open churnal endowments in a way that would would ensure that the profits of those endowments would be inheritable by their female daughters. And you know, something that she had to have had to we have a you'll be here he what he said, you know, simply, at least in our day and age, he said, if this is such a huge problem, that you know, and there are ways to get around it ways that we can use historically, we can we can you look at the waqf system, and how institutions were built in order to ensure that female family members were constantly had access to wealth. But even today, it's almost as if we wait until someone is on their deathbed before we think to ourselves, well, let's gift our daughters or let's gift our family members or take care of our female family members in different ways. And that this is something simple that this is that the wealth that we have today can be distributed while we're alive and well. And that's not the only solution. There are solutions within the Islamic tradition within Islamic law that use the principles inherent that can can really navigate these issues. And so even if something seems like it is, is, you know, absolutely certain and solid and perceptible to change, that's not the case. And that's never the case with any second ruling. Exactly. And I think we're gonna hit you up for a for a deep dive on on this topic of
inheritance because it's, it's so rich. And I'd love to go deeper, frankly. So if I'm hearing you correctly, Dr. Tasnim, so our whole mindset about, you know, how we treat rules in Islam is, is affected by the way we're living the role of religion in society these days. I get that. I get that there's supposed to be wisdoms behind every, every ruling in Islam. I get that as well. But if I was going to categorize Islamic rules, as kind of the big, bold ideas and rulings, like the inheritance piece, like the divorce piece, into one bucket, and then the other bucket are like really simple, basic Sunan, you know, recommendations or, you know, Sunnis, such as walking into the bathroom with your left foot, or walking into the masjid with your right foot or wiping, you know, your socks in a certain way, like they all seem very, very minute. And for me, you're saying that there's all these rules are constructed to bring us closer to Allah subhana wa ta'ala and whatnot, but I struggle to make that connection between these very, very basic rules, very simple rules. And, you know, God consciousness. So how do I how do I find the wisdom in these small things? So this is a great question. Sometimes you feel like you just can't understand everything that you have to do. And there's a couple of ways that you can think about this. Number one, it's the reality that the idea of religion is not meant for you to have all of the answers immediately in front of you knowing, you know, all the wisdom that God has planned. But the idea of being a Muslim is to literally submit. And that's to submit to the unseen to submit to the unknown. And so some things are not going to have an explanation. And I think that's okay. And we need to be okay with that. Because when we understand
the bigger picture, when we understand Islam holistically, it'll be it's something that can settle within our hearts. There are still questions to this day. And I've been on this track studying Islamic studies for several years now, there's still questions to this day that I just can't get the answer to. But you know what, I think to myself, everything else makes perfect sense. And Islam provides this comprehensive holistic lifestyle. It's okay if I can't answer all of the empty boxes. And I think that what happens is that we have this natural inclination to sort of throw out the baby with the bathwater. And you see this happen historically, there is, you know, a really famous incident that I like to explain, because I think it just it really brings together the idea of questioning where we question where we get our questions from, but also the balance of just kind of stepping back and understanding. And that is about the Hadith of the fly. Now, for those of you who haven't heard about it, it's a Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ where essentially he says that if a fly lands in your cup, dip it completely before you take it out. And you know, for a few, I'm glad you bring this up, by the way, because I've had that burning question. It's confusing. Yeah, it's confusing. Just the fact that Islam has gone to that depth, you know, that if a fly lands in your cup, there's a certain way to treat it honestly is astonishing. So yeah, I'd love to hear it. It's astonishing in so many ways, because one, you might think like this is all come on another rule. And then for some people, they thought in you have specific cases in the early 20th century, you have a few leading thought leaders in Egypt, who, you know, had this very religious upbringing, and they're confronted with this Hadith. And they think that Islam, you know what, this is, this is kind of the tipping point that Islam is clearly irrational. And you know what, we can't take the Hadith, this Hadith, nor any Hadith. And
I think we do this a lot today that you know what, there's this one Hadith that I just I can't understand. So all that is gone. And what happens is that you think about the context, you got to really set the stage. These are Egyptian thought leaders at the turn of the 20th century, what's happening in Egypt at the time, you've got occupation after occupation, you've got colonial powers that are really dominating Egypt. And you've got the Ottoman Empire, which was, you know, the peak Muslim civilization for centuries is not crumbling down before their eyes. And so I'm here, you know, imagine yourself being there, I'm gonna feel very embarrassed by my religious identity. This is now when you've got post enlightenment, now everyone's turning away from this obsession with religion. And now you know, we're thinking scientifically and, and so here I am as a Muslim, like I'm being conquered, I'm being dominated, clearly, there might be something wrong with my religion, that maybe it's incompatible, maybe just doesn't make sense. And you know what, there's some things we just got to get rid of, right. And so, so it's just, it's, it's really funny, because I think this is something that we do today. And what happens is that with this particular example, the Hadith of the Fi is that just a couple decades later, scientific research comes out and says that, you know, there's actually antibodies on the flies wings, and essentially proves that it's actually safer if you dip the fly into the cup. And, and really, I love this example, because sometimes, at that moment, you're not going to know the answer. And, and you know what, you might not ever know it, they might not have lived to hear that answer. But some things you sort of have to, to really just understand that you won't know the answer or that you might find it at a later time. And it's the way we react is so vastly different than the way Hadith scholars and Muslim scholars throughout history reacted. Because it's not like, oh, this is the first time the Hadith of the fly ever popped up, like one day, they're flipping through a book. And now all this new Hadith came out. This
these types of Hadith were confronted by Hadith scholars centuries before. And you have someone like Ibn Hajar, who writes one of the biggest tafsir, you know, the sort of like this commentary edition on al-Bukhari al-Sahih of the Hadith corpus, right. And as he's going through, writing through his commentary, he comes across a Hadith that says, you know, that when Adam alayhi salam was was created, he was created at 60 arms length, and that sort of as history progresses, man will continue to shrink. And Ibn Hajar kind of looks around him and he noticed he recognizes the fact that a lot of the ancient homes that were in his area that were hundreds, if not 1000s of years old, were still were the same size of his home that day. And he's thinking to himself, well, that doesn't make sense, because then those homes would have been bigger. So what does he do? He moves on, he's like, all right, flip the page, you continue on. And that's really a lot of times just the attitude we need to have, because he recognized that, you know, he's like, I don't know the answer to this. But I see the whole Hadith corpus in front of me, I know Islam, I've lived and experienced Islam, and I know that it only brings me benefit. And it makes holistic, rational sense. And that's enough for me. And sometimes it's got to be, you know, something that we just have to really come to terms with that you can't know everything and really have that, that intellectual humility as you you know, go along this journey. JazakAllah khair. Dr. Tasneem, we're gonna jump to the rapid fire in a sec. But I do want to close off with a very simple question. And that's a question on behalf of my nine year old niece. She comes to you, Dr. Tasneem, and says, look, I go to an non Muslim school, most people don't practice Islam, and practice religion in general. And when I do try to practice my religion, I realized that actually, there are so many rules. And I'm worried that
Islam is too, too difficult. So do I throw in the towel now? Because Islam is too difficult and too burdensome? Or is there light at the end of the tunnel? How do you respond to the nine year old girl? I would respond with exactly the words of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. religion is easy. If you make it hard, it's gonna be hard. That just make your intention where you balance out your actions, make the intention that what you want to do is to please Allah. And you're gonna just get what you need to get done. You're gonna pray your five prayers, you're gonna do what you have to do. Everything else is an opportunity. Think of it as an opportunity to keep going further. But it's not something that you need to ever feel burdened by. And I love how this hadith includes right after this, give glad tidings. Because to me, that's really anytime I feel like I'm taking it too tough on myself. I think of this the process sounds like listen, man, religion is easy. And you want to make it hard, it's only gonna be hard on yourself. Don't make it hard, essentially be balanced and give good glad tidings. Because look around tell people about the good that you experienced from from religion, talk about the good aspects and everything that we benefit from because that really is the ultimate goal that we're becoming better humans as a result, as a result of it, that religion is easy. And it's something that is just to be proud of and to really talk about with joy and excitement. JazakAllah khair, Dr. Tasneem. Thank you so much. We're gonna up the ante a little bit and change gears from this topic to something a little bit easier, hopefully less burdensome than the heavy topic of Islam being too difficult. I'm going to jump to a couple of quick questions and you've got 10 seconds to answer each one. Are you ready? I'm so nervous. Bismillah. Alright, we'll start off easily. Your favorite qarah, your favorite reciter of the Quran? Oh, easy. Yasir Dosti.
Yasir Dosti, did you say? Yes, Yasir Dosti. Okay, Alhamdulillah. Someone, yes, someone chose the one that. So I met him a couple of times. I tried to pull him to Australia to visit. And his answer to me was, sure, I'll come to Australia if you can do me one favor. What's that? Bring Australia closer to me. So it didn't work out. That's exactly how I feel. He's amazing. No, his voice is incredible. It's powerful. And I love it. I love it. Yeah. Alhamdulillah that he's Imam of the Haram now. What's the last book you were reading? Which language? I like to... Which languages do you have? I actually just finished my first Turkish novel, which was really exciting. And I like to keep a set of different books. You read Turkish? Yes, I picked up Turkish past few years, Alhamdulillah. It's been so much fun. That was just the novel. My English book that I'm reading is called Cynical Theories. I sound so lame. But it talks about the effects of postmodernism on the academy. And then for Arabic, one of my favorite authors, Abu Zahra, has a biography on Imam Malik. And he just writes so well. And I'm enjoying reading that. Mashallah, JazakAllah khair. Just a Turkish novel. Hey, it was a starter. Easy. What's your dream breakfast? Dream breakfast, coffee and just a light snack. I don't like to start my day too heavy. Protein bar usually, the perfect bars. It's shameless plug. Those things are so good. Tastes like you're eating cookie dough. I know that's what happens in Australia. No, I don't think we do. We probably do. But I'm on a diet every week. A different diet. So I get to try new things, but they don't sound like cookie dough. If you could have
dinner with one person from history, who would it be? And it's obviously not the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, because that would be your first choice, of course. I don't know if that counts, but I'm obsessed with her. And there's so many questions I would love to ask her. Okay, so you're the director of expanded learning at Yaqeen. What are you expanding? So basically, what we do is we take those papers that are 40-50 pages sometimes, and we expand the ways you can access them. So we create products like curriculum, conviction circles, conversations decks. Basically, how can you talk about the same topic, get to the same type of information without necessarily just being by yourself and reading through the long paper. So doing it in a classroom, doing it with friends, just really giving you more opportunities to learn in a cool, different environment. Amazing. You know, typically, before we interview any guests on Double Take, our amazing team and our producer, brother Tarek does such a diligent job at digging through our guests' social media profiles. So he went through Facebook, he went through Twitter, he went through Instagram, and he couldn't find you on social media. So why is that? Get off while you can. Social media, if there's hasn't been enough studies and in documentaries is toxic. And I personally find that for me, the harm was greater than the good. And really, if I'm just trying to be like human and honest, it just it takes away from my focus. And I'm thinking about constantly scrolling and checking and notifications, and then I lose brain power to do things that are more important in my life. So I recommend getting off. So if you've got so much time, because you're not on social media, if you have unlimited
resources, and you could put together a dream service for Muslims, what would Dr. Tasneem Al-Qaik focus on? What is it called when you have like those glasses and you can see like an alternate reality? Augmented reality, like VR, AR. Yeah, like it would be like an augmented reality where it's like you if you have a question, or you're thinking about a topic, you can see it sort of across time and space, like how that question has been dealt with and sort of like different answers from different times and traditions, because I feel like so often, we're just stuck in our bubble. And we just think that whatever answer we have in front of us today is the only answer. And I think there's just so much to learn from history. And it really provides perspective and gives you the answers that we're so desperately trying to find today. JazakAllah Khair. You know, normally we say, for those who want to find out more about the topic, go to the guest's specific paper on YaqeenInstitute.org. But this time, I'm going to say, just go to YaqeenInstitute.org because that's your output. JazakAllah Khair. Wa alykum, Salam alaykum for having me. Thank you.
Welcome back!
Bookmark content
Download resources easily
Manage your donations
Track your spiritual growth
Khutbahs

Allah

215 items
Present
1 items