Al-Mujtama Interviews Dr. Issa Abdo (2 / 3)

Summary of the Second Part

In the second part, Dr. Eissa Abdo continues his discussion about his journey, pointing to the projects of the "MuslimStudents Union" in America to establish gathering centers to protect expatriates from forbidden foods, such as bread prepared with pig fat, and to establish classes for teaching the language and the Quran to children. He calls upon the wealthy Muslims to support these projects instead of depositing money in Zionist banks.

The Doctor affirmed that Europe is not safe from the currents that have afflicted the West and the East, as it contains socialism, moral decadence, and material pollution.

He warned of the danger of Muslims relying on unbelieving Orientalists to study Islamic sciences, which has led to the emergence of a "Doctorate in Islam" campaign where scholars receive knowledge from the enemies of the religion. This reduces the respect of foreign environments for Islamic preachers.

He called for a plan to collect manuscripts and establish Islamic universities in "Daral-Islam" (the Abode of Islam).

He affirmed that the moral collapse of the United States is only a matter of time, resulting from overindulgence in the two desires of sex and food (intoxicants), attachment to change merely for the sake of change, and racial discrimination. He pointed to factors of economic collapse such as inflation, spending on wars, and space exploration, which cause unemployment

The Collapse of the United States Will Result from its Moral Deterioration

Dr. Eissa Abdo speaks to Al-Mujtama about his journey in Europe, America, and Japan  

Belief in the power of the dollar to the extent of sanctity is a contemporary image of the Jews' worship of the calf they made of gold.

 The Gathering Center Project: Bread is Lard with Pig Fat

The bread is larded with pig fat. The aforementioned Union of Muslim Students has financial and economic projects such as establishing a gathering center for Muslims, where the expatriate can buy his necessities of food, drink, and bread. You might pause briefly at the bread, considering that the suspicion of it being forbidden is, for example, unlikely. The reality, however, is otherwise, because the vast majority of bread sold in the markets is prepared with fats that include pig fat. To this extent, the Muslim finds it difficult to preserve his religion by avoiding forbidden foods. That is why the Union thought of establishing gathering centers.

Furthermore, and more importantly, this Union wants to establish classes for teaching the Arabic language, the Noble Quran, and the Noble Hadith, to the extent that is compatible with the capacity of the young boys and girls of the expatriates. This rising generation is completely deprived of the language, the Book, and the Sunnah. The truth is that the direction of the Muslim Students Union to establish these centers is a noble act and does not involve material loss. Rather, it is an opportunity for good investment, and an opportunity to contribute to the spread of Da'wah (call to Islam) and to protect the children of expatriates from the prevailing cultural influence upon them at present, due to the environment in which they live. I ask: Has the time not come for the wealthy among the Muslims of this age to direct some of their money to such projects instead of depositing it in Zionist banks? It is clear that these projects absorb huge amounts of capital if they are intended to be generalized in all branches.

Europe: Storms Sweep Away Everything

 Al-Mujtama Magazine asked Dr. Eissa: Is there a specific addition about Europe, or is the situation as previously mentioned?

The truth is that I stopped only in Switzerland, and from this central location in Europe, and from my contact with groups passing through these countries, I learned things about Europe that astonished me. I had thought it was safe from the currents that afflicted the West and the East altogether.

Yet, these currents are sweeping away everything and knocking on every door. In the heart of Europe, there is the narrow socialist tendency, and it is steeped in moral decadence and immersion in materialism. There is also pollution in the air and in the waters of rivers and lakes, similar to what I saw in the United States. Thus, I saw that the storms sweeping the world are not blocked from any country by any veil.

Dr. Abdo's Efforts in Universities and Correcting Translation Concepts

• In your capacity as one of the prominent thinkers and callers of Islam, what work did you present to your religion during your tour in Japan, the United States, and Europe?

• I presented very little, because I did not settle in any country for a sufficient period. My primary goal was first to learn about the conditions of the Da'wah and the Du'at (preachers). It is noteworthy that in Japan, I spoke in some universities about transactions and economic conditions in Islam.
• The listeners expressed their astonishment that this religion addresses such matters. This is about the Japanese, not the Muslims I met. Professor Akeda of Osaka University gave me a copy of a translation of the Holy Quran, as he and a colleague believed.
• This dedication prompted me to give a lecture on the translation of the Quran, in which I clarified the impossibility of translating a section of a verse. I gave examples and warned against judging this Divinely revealed Book merely by looking at any translation. I said that what is called a translation helps the Muslim who knows the Book and the foreign language, while he is in the process of clarifying the rulings of the religion.
• However, looking at any translation while ignorant of the Arabic language and disconnected from the sciences of the Quran brings about harms that are manifold more than what is imagined, in terms of achieving a limited benefit, such as one individual becoming convinced of the majesty of this Book.
• I repeated this lecture in Zurich, Switzerland, and it had a good impact. It prompted some Muslims to prepare some verses with their text and script as in the Mus'haf (physical copy of the Quran), then re-write them with the script commonly used in schools, such as adding the alif in the word As-Samawat (Heavens), for example.
•  Then, they would include the German text, despite its weakness, and finally, leave room for commentary and explanation with the intention of clarifying the correct meanings that the Arabic text carries, and which the alleged translation does not carry.
• Before that, I gave some lectures in some American universities like Berkeley and Stanford about the problems of the world in our present time and the ruling of Islam on them.

The Danger of Drawing Islamic Sciences from Orientalists

One of the most specific and important topics I spoke about is a matter I would like to record here so that this generation and other generations to come, God willing, may read it. It raises an issue of extreme seriousness that was not met with comfort by some contemporary scholars because they were affected by the Western cultural influence, and it took hold of their feelings and estimations.

By this issue, I mean what I called for: the concerted effort to reinstate serious studies of the Islamic religion in the land of Muslims, their mosques, their homes, and their universities. I was appalled to see that universities in Islamic countries and centers for scientific research send missions of Muslim youth to obtain academic licenses in Islam, and these people receive the rulings of the religion from Orientalists who do not believe in God or the Last Day.

The Islamic Doctorate Campaign!!

It is regrettable that the plan of the enemies of Islam succeeded in the past century of the twentieth century, by working to link position and financial reward with the certificate issued by those foreign universities. It is a calamity upon this Nation that the student of the Islamic religion should boast of a doctoral degree, for example, and dislike the title of "Sheikh," or that the student under the guidance of Orientalists should boast that he is a student of one of them.

I was given more than one opportunity to speak to some teachers and students, and I saw the clear difference between the false artificial flower and what the earth produces of every beautiful pair that God Almighty created. This is because the sciences of religion are not facilitated for the unbeliever and the People of the Book. Their efforts are nothing but a mere chatter of the tongue, a hunting for points of suspicion or disagreement, and deepening them.

The Need for "Dar al-Islam" in Scientific Research

I say that the collection of manuscripts, even by "microfilm," their coordination, arrangement, and classification in organized centers is the first work that Muslims must implement.

Then, research centers and Islamic universities should be established in Dar al-Islam (the Abode of Islam). This matter is closely related to the Da'wah, which is our subject, because the Western and Eastern environments that find Muslim preachers flocking to them, and they themselves are students of the West and the East, these environments foreign to Islam are excused if they do not feel sufficient respect for a religion whose preachers receive it from the disbelievers.

Once again, I say that this is an extremely dangerous matter and necessitates setting a long-term plan to be able to get rid of this affliction. The famous proverb says: "One who lacks something cannot give it." If Muslim preachers seek guidance and the sciences of Islam at the hands of disbelievers, how can their words be fruitful in an environment they are dependent upon?!

Factors of Internal Collapse in American Society

• It is said that the United States will collapse following the moral degradation and decline of its people. What is your opinion on this?

• This is true, and in my estimation, it is nothing more than a matter of time, because the factors of internal collapse in society come from many directions. Among them is overindulgence in the two well-known desires: sex and food. When I say food, this extends to drink as well, such as intoxicants and the like, which have begun to spread among the youth in particular.
• Another aspect is the attachment to change for the sake of change, which is why you find groups of both sexes rebelling against every norm merely for the sake of rebellion in clothing and in personal behavior.
• A third aspect is racial discrimination and discrimination based on color. I also noticed what can be considered a fourth cause of the collapse of this society, which is the dislike of businessmen for the state's policy, especially waging wars to promote the weapons industry. The only thing preventing this truth from appearing currently is the strict censorship and repression.
• Let the reader not think that there is more freedom in this country than in other countries. Rather, the directed word and the magazine are enslaved by advertisements, and men are enslaved by money. Anyone who does not submit is subjected to persecution with all that this word carries of meanings, I mean even to the point of murder. Furthermore, religious associations and bodies are discontent with the moral degradation, and I have previously alluded to that.

Among the Causes of the United States' Collapse: Inflation and Unemployment

• Among the economic causes of the collapse of the United States:

As for the economic aspect, which is the lifeblood, the causes that I see leading to the collapse of this edifice built on arrogance and obstinacy are many. Among them is: Financial Inflation: One of its signs is the trend of general price levels towards rising. The current President Nixon, as soon as he took office, was concerned with studying this issue. Fifty scientists and economic experts met by his order, and sharp disagreement arose among them, and they were divided into three teams.

I do not want to elaborate here, as the topic of inflation is a serious issue in itself. Rather, I want to alert the reader that spending that does not contribute to welfare, such as in war budgets and space exploration, is likely to lead to the spread of unemployment and the instillation of anxiety among society.

 If the emperors in history had their edifices collapse successively due to expansion, what I see is that this great power has become tyrannical and is following the path of the emperors anew through the wars it instigates and the money it spends fruitlessly. This is enough regarding the economic factors that contribute to the collapse sooner or later.

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Read also:

Al-Mujtama Interviews Dr. Issa Abdo (1 / 3)

The challenges of the Muslim family in the diaspora Part (I)
 Challenges of the Muslim Family in the West (II)