New Literature for a New Era

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This program is a rare voice of clarity at a time of confusion and doubt! It is a voice of integrity in an age of spin and mendacity! It is a voice for peace, moderation and sanity in a world gone mad!

Featured in this program:

• Islam means Being Nice
• Who did God talk to?
• God is Truth
• God controls Everything
• Singing the Praises of Jesus and Mary
• Desecration of the Qur’an
• The Miracle of Hajj

Nothing is more amazing in this world than a believer who is sustained by God’s Love.

Let me explain how.

“When a believer looks at God, I mean when he thinks or contemplates about God, he thinks his life is forever.

But when he looks at this world, he knows that his life hangs in the most delicate and dynamic balance of a dizzy whirl of a billion variables from minute to minute and from second to micro- and millisecond.

So a believer learns to scale his life and his priorities accordingly.

And his life then becomes a perfect balance of rights and responsibilities.

As a result, a believer discharges his duties, and fulfils his obligations, to friend and foe alike, and to humans and non-humans alike, as if he had but maybe seconds to live.

But he leaves his rewards in the safe and secure hands of his master – God Almighty.

And he rests comfortably in the safe and secure knowledge that what is his by divine dispensation will also be his in actuality. 

And what was meant to reach him in this world will never miss him, no matter who gets in the way or tries to stop it.

A believer never surrenders his rights, no matter how seemingly insurmountable the odds against him, for he knows his rights are given to him by his maker and master, God Almighty, and not by fellow-human beings like himself.

Nor does a believer allow the rights of anyone else to be denied or diminished, for he knows all rights, his as well as everyone else’s, come from God and it is his God-given duty to cherish and protect them and to strive tirelessly to secure them for himself as well as for all others.

Yet, at the same time, a believer’s struggle for his rights is most cultured, compassionate and dignified, for, he knows that the one who gave him his rights will also make sure to deliver them to him.

As a result, a believer’s struggle for those God-given rights – life, liberty, property, family, human dignity, freedom of belief, freedom of expression and such – both for himself and for everyone else in this world, is persistent and fearless.

For, a believer reads in the Qur’an, which is God’s word in his hand, and in this world, and in the universe, that God does not change the condition of a people unless they themselves work to change it.

As a human being, a believer loves Liberty more than he loves Life, just as the American revolutionary Patrick Henry once said it as eloquently and forcefully as perhaps any man can ever say it: “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”

And as the Bible quotes the indomitable Moses, Prophet and Messenger of God, may God bless him, as saying it to no less a tyrant than Pharaoh who not only considered himself the greatest king on earth, but also God: “Let My People Go!”

But a believer respects, loves, and celebrates life as a very special gift and trust from God, not just for himself but for all of God’s creation, both human and non-human.

Such a man is mortal to the extent all creation must drink inevitably from the decreed cup of mortality. But his life, legacy and impact on the world are forever, for, he is moved by the Spirit of God that God breathed in him when he created him.

Such a man is indestructible, unbreakable.

For, as someone once said it:

• You send him in exile, you turn him into a tourist on the endless expanse of God’s earth;
• You lock him up in jail, you make it possible for him to be in never-ending tete-a-tete with his Creator;
• Or you kill him, and thereby you confer upon him the priceless blessing of martyrdom and send him directly to paradise where he lives forever in eternal bliss in the presence of God Almighty.

Indeed, how different is the world of a believer who knows, understands, and believes, and cares, from the world of a non-believer who neither knows, nor understands, nor believes, nor cares.

And what an enchanted and impregnable and radiant and self-sustaining world it is!

Directly in the hand of God Almighty.

May God bless such a believer and those he loves and teaches, and whose lives he touches!” (Dr. Pasha)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:43 — 14.1MB)

A very different radio program is attracting the attention of Muslims and non-Muslims alike around the world. It is fresh; it is exciting; and it is all that you wished you had in a radio program but never quite got it before.

Featured in this program:

• Belief in God
• The Will of God
• Concept of God in Hinduism
• Concept of God in Judaism and Christianity
• The Messiah
• Mary in the Qur’an
• World Day of God

“As a child as I studied the vilification and demonization of Islam and Muslims through history, one thing clearly stood out in my mind: There was near-consensus among the critics that there was nothing good that could be said about Islam or Muslims. The chorus that came from every side seemed to say: “Muslims are bad and Islam is no good.”

All I had to do to put this anti-Islam chorus to some kind of a Truth-Test was to look at my own father, and my mother, and my relatives, and all the other wonderful Muslims around me. And it became plain as daylight that those who demonized Muslims and Islam were idiots and ignoramuses or they were outright crooks and liars.

That means they were genuinely confused and misinformed or they were knowingly and deliberately lying through their teeth as the saying goes.

Later on, as I grew up, I was to learn that idiots and ignoramuses most of them were not. And having the kind of often very high educational qualifications and background many of them seemed to have, they had no excuse for being ignorant or misinformed.

I then began to realize how thorough, how extensive and how systematic the propaganda against Islam and Muslims was. And how multifaceted, aggressive, pervasive and powerful it was. And how there was not a lie or distortion the anti-Islam propagandists would not use to give Islam and Muslims a bad name.

And I also began to see how ignorant and unaware of any of this the Muslims were. History offers no parallel to such an unequal matchup of forces – to such an un-level playing field as you might call it.

And, perhaps, nothing speaks to the truth of Islam more loudly or clearly than how Islam survives, even thrives, against such seemingly impossible odds.” (Dr. Pasha)

“I have often thought about how some of us think: “Truth is what we say.” And “We” are the Good Guys. Propaganda, on the other hand, is what those Other Guys say. And “They” are the Bad Guys.

And I tell myself: Wow, what a perfect recipe we have invented to delude ourselves about what really goes on in the world? And what a great guarantee it is for us to preserve and maintain all kinds of Status Quo that is favourable to us but that is essentially unfair and unjust to others – a Status Quo that some might call Evil.

The major problem I see with this formulation, however, is this: We know, and we insist, that “We” are the Good Guys. But if you went and asked the Other Guys, they are also likely to say the exact same thing. They would most probably say that “They” are the Good Guys and “We” are the Bad Guys.

That means there are actually two Bad-Guys and two Good-Guys in this world: one from “Our” vantage point and the other from “Their” point of view, which means “They” are Bad Guys to Us and “We” are Bad Guys to Them.

If more people understood this simple truth – this reciprocal equation of Good Guys and Bad Guys – about our world, perhaps there will be less violence, hate, prejudice and war in this world.” (Dr. Pasha)

“Before Islam, there was no such thing as the right to Freedom of Expression in the world. Islam gave people – all people – the right to free speech.

How I wish Muslims had known this fact.

And how I wish the world would know this fact even now.” (Dr. Pasha)

“Sometimes, for some Muslims, 2 plus 2 doesn’t quite make 4. Their answer: Don’t worry, it will come out right in the next world. Whereas in Islam 2 plus 2 always makes 4 – whether it is your apples you are counting or your enemy’s.

And there were those among Muslims who were never afraid to tell the truth, even when the truth worked against them.

Those were the times when Muslims were known as the People of Truth.

And it was this lesson – the lesson to speak the truth – that Sir Muhammad Iqbal, the great Poet of Islam, in Urdu and Persian languages, urged Muslims to Re-Learn.

“Re-Learn the Lesson of Truth Telling,” said Iqbal.

…

“For, you are about to be called to the Leadership of the World.”

Anyone with any ability to read the events that rock the world today can see that Iqbal was right and that that time is upon us.

And that Muslims are being called upon to come forward to shoulder the burdens of leadership in the world.

But to merit that noble mantle, and to hasten that day, Muslims must first Re-Learn the Lesson of Truth Telling.

Nothing else will work.

And not just the Muslims but the entire world will be the loser if Muslims fail to Re-Learn their forgotten Lesson of Truth Telling.” (Dr. Pasha)

“I once heard a Christian religious leader tell this story and it stayed fresh in my mind. Here is how the story goes:

A very pious man once drowned in a flood. As the man got trapped in the rising waters of the flood, a boat came to him and a man in the boat said: “Hurry, get in the boat.” The man turned down the offer of help and said: “God will save me!”

The boat went away, the man stayed and the water kept rising.

After a while the same boat showed up again and the same conversation took place. The boat went away a second time, and the man stayed in water, and the water rose further, this time reaching the man’s chin.

The boat returned a third time, offering to rescue him. The man said “God will save me!” and sent the boat away this time also. The man drowned and, then, upon resurrection, he asked God: “Lord, why did you not save me?” God said: Three times I sent a boat to rescue you and every time you turned down my offer of help.

This is a story told by a Christian Priest. But it seems to me there is a moral in it for Muslims as well – and for everyone else. Will someone please tell the Muslims this story?” (Dr. Pasha)

“I am not saying Muslims should not be “nice.”

And I am not saying civility is not a virtue.

In fact Islam is all about being “nice” and kind and merciful and saying and doing “nice” things as much as you can.

But, at the same time, don’t beguile yourself into thinking that your being “nice” will automatically melt every non-Muslim or unbelieving heart and will necessarily lead to everybody accepting Islam.

If that were true, some of the arch-foes of Islam and Muslims, during the time of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab, would have been among the first to embrace Islam.

For, they knew first hand, and only too well, what a kind, compassionate, loving, generous and “nice” man Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, was.

The fact is that it takes more than a “nice” word or a kind gesture for people to see the truth of Islam and come forward to embrace it.

It happens when the doors of a human being’s heart are opened by God Almighty.

That is why no one, other than God, can take credit for “guiding” people.

People find “guidance” – Hidaayat as the Qur’an calls it – when the divine mercy smiles down at them. Not when someone – a human source for example – wants to “guide” them and not when they want to “discover” the truth for themselves.

That is why blessed and fortunate indeed are those who are guided. For, they receive guidance from above – and not from any other source.

This is not to say others – an identifiable human source – do not play a helpful role in either bringing people closer to Islam or in driving people away from Islam.

We are all perfectly capable of doing that, and we indeed do both those things all the time: helping people to open their eyes to the beauty of Islam or giving them cause to dislike Islam even more than before.

But the “guidance” part that puts people over the top positively or negatively in the form of either accepting or rejecting Islam? That comes from God and no one else.” (Dr. Pasha)

“If you ask me why people accept Islam, I can give you two answers: one a very simple human one; the other a most complex unfathomable divine one.

From a human point of view, the process and outcome of conversion from religion to Islam, and, more specifically, from non-Islam to Islam, is the composite function of a billion variables, some known, most unknown or exogenous, each with its own specific value and error component, acting in concert, and the entire result being predictable or explainable within a certain margin of error, provided we have at our disposal all the theoretical models and methodological tools and instrumentations required for the purpose of figuring out these things.

I am calling this human equation simple because there is a way and there is a hope that somehow and sometime we can solve the puzzle. 

The divine answer may appear simple when stated in our daily language but is unknowable in both theory and practice as it transcends the limits of human knowledge and powers of human understanding.

For it means knowing God in all his attributes and understanding the calculus of his mercy and dispensation and his grace with regard to his creation.

Simply stated, it does not lie in human power to know or understand God and the internal dynamics of the way he does things.

Our very humanity is defined in terms of our general inability to comprehend God or the ways in which he dispenses his grace and mercy to his creation.

Wa laa yuheetoona bishai im min ‘ilmihi.” (Dr. Pasha)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:28 — 13.8MB)

A very different radio program is attracting the attention of Muslims and non-Muslims alike around the world. It is fresh; it is exciting; and it is all that you wished you had in a radio program but never quite got it before.

Featured in this program:

• World Day of God
• Hajj – A Commemoration of God
• Abraham’s Story
• Treating People with Respect
• The Preservation of Islam for 1400+ years
• The Presence of God
• Propaganda against Islam

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:15 — 13.1MB)

A very different radio program is attracting the attention of Muslims and non-Muslims alike around the world. It is fresh; it is exciting; and it is all that you wished
you had in a radio program but never quite got it before.

Featured in this program:

• Human Beings in a State of Loss
• God in Control
• Believers of God
• World Day of God
• The Blood of Jesus
• Historic Reality of Islam
• Fundamentals of Islam
• Dr. Pasha’s Search for Islam
• Stephen Hawking on the Big Bang Theory

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:43 — 14.4MB)

A very different radio program is attracting the attention of Muslims and non-Muslims alike around the world. It is fresh; it is exciting; and it is all that you wished you had in a radio program but never quite got it before.

Featured in this program:

• Health – Physical and Mental
• Islam and Science
• Alcohol and the Economy
• Talking Straight from the Heart
• Ishmael and Isaac
• Thomas Jefferson and the Bible
• Seek the Truth
• God Has Spoken!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:13 — 13.8MB)

Featured:

• Prophets of the Bible and the Qur’an
• No God But God
• World Day of God
• Propaganda Against Islam
• Muslims Bless Everyone,
• Hajj
• Moses and Jesus
• Turning the other cheek
• Reading the Qur’an

Message for Eidul Ad-haa

“My message for this Eidul Ad-haa is a simple one.

When Muslims and their small and big leaders proceed to slaughter and sacrifice their camels, sheep, goats and cows, I suggest they ask the following question of themselves: To what extent are they sacrificing these animals at the altar of God and to what extent are they sacrificing Islam and Muslims, and the overall wellbeing of God’s creation on earth, at the altar of their own egos; selfishness; greed; corruption; politics; ambition; and cooptation by and sellout to the Devil and his minions and agents?” (Dr. Pasha)

“To the extent Democracy implies rights, freedoms and opportunities for participation and representation for “The People,” it is from God and it embodies the essence and spirit of Islam. 

Dictatorship on the other hand, any kind or type of dictatorship, whether it is a civilian or military dictatorship or a hereditary monarchy pure and simple, that limits the rights and freedoms of “The People,” and denies them opportunities for full participation and representation, is from the Devil and it represents all that is alien and hostile to Islam.” (Dr. Pasha)

“Tyranny has many faces and they are all from the Devil.

In case anyone has trouble understanding this simple equation, let me make it as clear as I possibly can: A so-called “Religious” Dictatorship or “Islamic” Dictatorship is still a dictatorship.

It is one of the many faces of tyranny.

Nothing more, nothing less.

In fact, such a so-called religious or theocratic dictatorship is all dictatorship and tyranny and no Islam.” (Dr. Pasha)

“But it is hard: ignoring reality and going by some ideas in a book.

It is hard but it needs to be done.

It is in our interest, and it is in the interest of the world, to do so.

And then there is another thing: That Book, the Qur’an, is also a part of our reality.

In fact, that book is much more real than anything and everything that we consider to be real in this world.

Empirically speaking, there perhaps never was a better system of belief and behaviour than Islam.

Nor was there perhaps a worse set of its exemplars and spokespeople than modern-day Muslims.

So, the burden falls on those outside the fold of Islam to look past the Muslims and evaluate Islam on the basis of what Islam itself really teaches and promotes and claims to be.

And they are most fortunate in this respect, I mean the non-Muslims.

And so are Muslim peripheralists and borderliners who may have been born into Islam, but who may then have drifted away from Islam and Muslims in later life.

For, they have available to them the original word of God in the Qur’an – pure and unadulterated.

They do not need to depend on hearsay or cultural accretions and traditions, but they all can go directly to the pure and pristine teachings of the Qur’an.

At the same time, they also have available to them the unadulterated words and deeds of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, in the Hadith.

In the form of raw data and basic facts.

And, both the Qur’an and the Hadith are more reliable, more authentic and more true than any other material they would be able to lay their eyes upon, whether that is a newspaper; a magazine; a popular or scholarly book or journal; a historic document; a computer output of some description; or just about anything else in this world.

So, non-Muslims, as well as Muslim peripheralists and borderliners, must look past the somewhat less than ideal Muslim reality of today at the original purity and higher reality of the Qur’an and the Hadith and make their reasoned and pragmatic choices – about life and about Islam – based on them.  

In this way, they will not only choose and act wisely in this world, but they will also open themselves to divine grace and blessings to come pouring down on them from Heaven.” (Dr. Pasha)

“Your journey to God begins when and where your preoccupation with your own self tapers off.

The more ascendant and salient you make yourself in your list of priorities and in your own scheme of things, and the more prominent your child, spouse, job or business is in the calculus of your life, the slower and more arduous and fitful your journey to God and the farther and more uncertain your destination.

Unless, of course, you master the true Islamic way of doing things under which you love God first, and foremost, and unconditionally, and above all else, and then you compress and derive all your worldly loves, whether it is your love for your family, career or even yourself, from that single most dominant and all-consuming passion in your life – Love of God.

That total and single-minded devotion for God then validates, legitimizes, blesses and consecrates every other lawful love you may have in this world, whether it is love of a child, parent, sport, business, spouse, career, nation, society, culture or place.” (Dr. Pasha)

“Imagine a household.

Imagine a household in which:

• The father works hard to provide for the family;
• The daughter works hard to give herself the best education she can;
• And the mother works hard to keep the entire household running as smoothly as possible.

Imagine such a household.

And then ask yourself: How far can such a household be from Islam?

From that most amazing system of belief and behaviour that God sent down into this world to help human beings live a good life on earth, both as individuals and as groups, collectives and societies.

All you need to do thereafter is throw in some other fundamentals of Islam in this equation such as the ones below and you have built a solid foundation of Islam around such a household:

• Belief in one God;
• Belief in Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, as the last and final messenger of God;
• Belief in the Qur’an as God’s full and final guidance to humanity;
• Belief in all of God’s prophets and messengers and books;
• And belief in the Day of Judgment as a reality and a certainty.

After that, all that remains to be attended to are some practical requirements of daily living such as prayer and fasting and cleanliness and you have got yourself as complete a picture of Islam as you may wish.

Imagine such a household and then ask yourself how far such a household can be from God and from Islam.” (Dr. Pasha)