Younus AlGohar's answer to a viewer-submitted question: is celebrating birthdays Haram (prohibited) according to Islam?
Main points:
- There is nothing wrong with celebrating your birthday. The notion that celebrating your birthday is Haram is from ignorant religious scholars who have placed unnecessary restrictions upon everything in life.
- As long as the celebration of your birthday is not used as an excuse to engage in indecency or immorality, there is nothing wrong with celebrating it.
'Blessed was the day when Yahyah (John the Baptist) was born.' - Koran 19:32
- God declared in the Koran that the moment John the Baptist was born was blessed. If the moment a Prophet of Israel was born is blessed, then how could celebrating the birthday of the Leader of Prophets, Prophet Mohammad, be wrong according to Sharia? People who say such things are ignorant.
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Did the Devil (Iblees/Azazeel) actually disobey God - and why will he obtain salvation having prostrated before Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi? Younus AlGohar's answer to this question may surprise you!
Main points:
- Iblees/Azazeel (The Devil) is not to be confused with satans. God created satans for hellfire, but Iblees is a great worshipper of God. He worshipped God from all corners of the Earth. Just as security measures are put in place to ensure no money is stolen from ATMs, in a similar way, God has his own system of security and he has appointed Iblees as a security guard. This is to ensure that only those who are fated to have faith may be able to attain it.
'O' Lord, I swear upon your honour that I will kidnap them all for except those who are Mukhlaseen (the Sincere Ones).' - Koran 38:82
- Had Iblees been a satan, he would never have addressed God with the respect he demonstrated in the above-mentioned verse of the Koran. So Iblees will not bother those who belong to God; he cannot misguide them. He will confuse the ungodly souls and not allow them to come onto the [path taking them towards God].
'And when the Archangels were commanded to prostrate before Adam, all prostrated for except Iblees.' - Koran 17:61
- Iblees did not disobey God when he refused to prostrate before Adam the Eminent One. The Archangels were the ones who were told to prostrate, whereas Iblees is not an Archangel. He is from the Nation of Jinns.
- In the end, Iblees said, 'Adam the Eminent One is the First Caliph and Imam Mehdi is the Last Caliph. And nobody greater than Him has ever come so I will prostrate myself in His feet.' So the sin he committed, that of not prostrating in Adam's feet, will be forgiven. And it will be forgiven because the Spiritual Heart (Qalb) of Adam the Eminent One will be in Imam Mehdi.
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Does Zakat apply in modern times? Is Zakat meant to be used for the needy? How do you benefit by giving Zakat? Younus AlGohar answers all this and more in this informative video.
Main points:
- Zakat is a system in the religion through which the treasury of the Islamic Sultanate would be strengthened. Zakat would be collected in the treasury and it would be used to fund the government's work as well as help the needy. Zakat is just like taxes in western countries.
- Islam is a complete lifestyle, a Deen that encompasses all aspects of life. Islam means you live your life according to the principles set forth by Prophet Mohammad. It teaches you how to establish a connection with Prophet Mohammad and God, worshipping, living your life among your fellowmen, etc.
- Now if you either went to live in England, Canada, America or Australia and you are a Muslim, since you don't even know Islam, you will not only pay Zakat but also the government tax for the country; you will end up paying double. The tax you're paying in western countries is actually a lot more than the Zakat you would have to pay. You are not living in a non-Muslim country and the society is not Islamic, therefore, those laws do not apply. You are not in an Islamic republic, therefore, the financial aspect of Islam was also impractical.
- In Islam, you give Zakat once a year; but the government takes taxes every month. They deduct a large per cent of the money from the salaries of people working in the country and also charge 20% tax on all groceries and other household goods. Thanks to the vigorous tax-collecting on the part of the government, people are left living hand-to-mouth.
- And keep another thing in mind: why is Zakat given in the first place? The benefit of giving Zakat is that your wealth will become pure. However, if your wealth was unlawfully earned in the first place, then it will never become pure. What is unlawful will remain to be unlawful.
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Younus AlGohar’s comprehensive explanation of Koran 104:1-5 (Chapter Humazah) and who it applies to.
‘Destruction upon the slanderer and backbiter. That person will continue to gather his wealth. He thinks that the wealth he has collected will remain with him forever. We will throw all such people into the hellfire the name of which is Hutamah. And what do you know of what Hutamah is?’ - Koran 104:1-5
Main points:
- God says here that the people who are slanderers and backbiters will be destroyed. It is not just a reference to their afterlife, but also their physical life. We understand the destruction of physical life to either be in the form of a major loss in monetary wealth or a severe loss in physical health. But the Koran 104:2 mentions that the people who will be destroyed spend their time collecting wealth - which means that they will not be affected monetarily. If a person has pain anywhere in his body, he manages to bear it. However, if he loses his mental health, his entire personality is destroyed.
- When destruction falls upon a person's character, then they also lose their sanity. They lose all rationality, sanity, empathy and pity. For example, religious extremists involved in bomb blasts do not feel the pain of their victims. Once God has become upset with a person, none of his religious acts are accepted by God. And then after that, his spiritual, mental and physical state also change.
- According to what is written in this verse about Hutamah, God made the hellfire of Hutamah for those people involved in the vices of slandering and backbiting. And the fire of Hutamah burns the hearts of human beings. They will spend all their years burning in that fire which burns hearts.
- When a person's heart is enlightened, his actions, deeds and mental state are all set right. And when filth enters one's heart, then they suffer from mental illnesses. After a thorough investigation, I came to know that mental illnesses are not actually to do with the mind; they are esoteric diseases.
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Younus AlGohar's answer to a viewer who asked him to discuss why people visit the shrines of various saints even though Prophet Mohammad instructed people not to visit graves after his demise and to only seek help from God.
Main points:
- Firstly it has to be determined why a person visits a shrine and what his intentions are for going there. Obviously, prostration is only for God and this is well understood among Muslims. However, those who begrudge the saints tend to exaggerate what the visitors at the shrines of saints do. Visiting the shrines is not wrong.
- There are two types of prostrations. One is Sajda-e-Raboobiyat in which one prostrates before the Creator. The other is Sajda-e-Tazeemi (Prostration of Respect) which has been performed to saints, Prophets and Messengers. God commanded the Archangels to prostrate before Adam the Eminent One; this was not Sajda-e-Raboobiyat, it was Sajda-e-Tazeemi. This means that Sajda-e-Tazeemi is a custom given by God. Therefore, the prophets and messengers all allowed it.
- Sharia is not the complete Islam, it is only a part of Islam. When Prophet Mohammad noticed that the way the nation of Bani Israel had exploited the Prostration of Respect, to be on the safe side, he declared the Prostration of Respect to be forbidden in his Sharia. The Jews and Christians of the Arab peninsula had developed a custom of worshipping shrines. Had Prophet Mohammad not declared it to be prohibited, then this custom the nation of Bani Israel would have become a part of Islam.
- There were many reasons why Prophet Mohammad forbade the Prostration of Respect in his Sharia. One reason is that the Arab nation was incredibly arrogant and ignorant; the leaders of every tribe would have had their people prostrate to them. The Arab nation relished being praised and worshipped; they would write poetry praising themselves and their own ancestors. So Prophet Mohammad's reason for forbidding the Prostration of Respect was to prevent the emergence of a wrong custom.
- There are many things in Islam which pre-existed Islam. For example, Hajj: the circumambulation of the Kaaba and the reverence of the Holy Black Stone. In the same way, Sajda-e-Tazeemi (The Prostration of Respect) is an act that predates Islam. There was no problem with Hajj or reverence of the Holy Black Stone, so Prophet Mohammad allowed those practices to continue as part of Islam. However, when Prophet Mohammad saw the dangers with the Prostration of Respect, he forbade it in part.
- Different movies have age restrictions such as Universal (suitable for all audiences), 12+ (people of 12 years of age or older may watch it), 15+ (15-year-olds and older may watch it) and 18+ (18-year-olds or older may watch it). The films with age restrictions are forbidden, in part; they are forbidden for the people who are too young to watch them. Similarly, the Prostration of Respect was forbidden in Sharia, but it is permissible for the people who progress from Sharia to Tariqa (spirituality). This is because after entering spirituality, whoever they prostrate before will have the presence of God in them. The practitioners of spirituality have the Lord in them, therefore, they have permission to perform the Prostration of Respect. The Lord is not to be found in the practitioners of Sharia, which is why the Prostration of Respect is not allowed for them. So if somebody prostrates before a shrine of saints like Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Baba Farid or Abdul Qadir Jilani, they are actually prostrating before the Lord, not a shrine.
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Younus AlGohar's beautiful answer to a viewer who asked permission to write Taweez (amulets).
Main points:
- People in Pakistan suffer from superstition. They appear to be Devout Believers, but practically, it is another story. When they experience a minor business loss, they blame black magic; they visit different 'Babas' who write them amulets claiming to nullify the negative effects. However, the Surah Wannas of the Koran was revealed to nullify magic when the Kuffar of Mecca cast magic upon Prophet Mohammad. God's word is the most powerful word - but how many Muslims today know that the cure to any ill-effects of magic is to be found in the Koran? so instead, they visit different Babas. What has happened to their tenets and faith?
- The only amulet we talk about is the amulet written upon your heart. That amulet is one that will benefit you in this life, in the grave and even on the Day of Judgement. When you die and you are in the grave, show the angels God's Personal Name etched beautifully upon your heart. Having seen this, as His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi says, 'They will not have the courage to ask you another question.' The grandeur of the amulet of the heart is mentioned in the Koran.
'We have written faith upon their hearts.' - Koran 58:22
- God only grants permission to make the amulet of the heart to some people. We only believe in one type of amulet, in which the heart becomes the canvas and God's light becomes the pen. When God's Personal Name has been etched upon the heart, then call all the magicians to try and cast magic on you. If the word 'Allah' is written upon your heart, that is it. Now you are a man of God.
- When God sends a saint as a Spiritual Guide into the world, the saint trains his disciples in austerity and piety. If God wants to test how pious the disciples have become, he calls the Devil. He gives the Devil a letter of permission. The Devil takes the letter of permission from God to the Spiritual Guide. The Spiritual Guide chooses a period of time in which the Devil may test his disciple - it may be anywhere from one hour to 24 hours to one week to two months. The time period is chosen by the Spiritual Guide. During the period of testing, the Spiritual Guide uses different ways to look out for his disciple - for example, he may ask the disciple to stay at his home.
- The Devil is not a troublemaker. He is a servant of God. He cannot misguide whoever he wants. God has appointed him to sift out the hell-bound souls. Every human being has a good side and a bad side. Similarly, when God separated his anger from his personality, it became the Devil. Prophet Mohammad is God's positive side and the Devil is the negative side.
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Younus AlGohar’s definitive answer to a hotly debated subject in the Muslim world: is it Shirk (polytheism) to ask Prophet Mohammad for help?
Main points:
- The notion that asking saints of God or Prophet Mohammad for help is hugely inaccurate and blasphemous - and it is propaganda aggressively spread by the Wahhabi/Salafi/Deobandi/Ahle Hadith/Tauhidi school of thought. The Wahhabi school of thought has taken over the Muslim world fuelled by Saudi oil money. And Saudi Arabia turned into a religious monster.
- The most concrete evidence for this should be for you to actually try and ask the Prophet for help. If you receive help, it is the truth. If you don’t receive help, there could be two reasons: either the Wahhabis are right or you do not have access to Prophet Mohammad. When spiritual knowledge became nonexistent, people lost their connection to Prophet Mohammad and the saints of God. Then they would call upon Prophet Mohammad, Moula Ali, Abdul Qadir Jilani and other saints for help - but to no avail. As a result of this, their hearts slowly began to harbour negative conjectures. And then, one day, they became influenced by the Wahhabi philosophies.
- This war against the blasphemers of Prophet Mohammad cannot be fought verbally or on the basis of religious opinions. If we want to win this war we must connect people to Prophet Mohammad and illuminate their hearts with Prophet Mohammad’s name. We must raise the awareness of the Esoteric Knowledge which enlightens the hearts of people. We must beseech HDE Gohar Shahi to return to Pakistan and transform hearts into Medina once again.
- As long as you are spiritually dead, you will declare all prophets as dead. But when your heart is revived and you become spiritually alive, you will see with your own two eyes that you had only just developed the desire to see the Prophet and he appears before you. This will only happen when Prophet Mohammad reigns over your heart.
- God says that he is the one who grants and Prophet Mohammad is the distribute of God’s grant. Therefore, you must call upon the one whom God has appointed as the distributor. And if you neglect the distributor who has been given the authority of distribution by God to ask God directly, it is not only disrespectful but also blasphemous to God. You are being disobedient to God. Asking Prophet Mohammad for something, in reality, is asking God for it. Those who begrudge Prophet Mohammad begrudge God. Prophet Mohammad is just another beautiful image of God.
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