Nurturing Faith Responsibility Building Responsible Muslims

And Ms. Cream, do you want to do the welcoming introduction or would you like me to do it? Okay, won't put you in the hot spot. All right, inshallah. As-salamu alaykum, everyone. All right, as-salamu alaykum. we would love to see everybody. So, if you are in comfortable area and you can get your camera on, we would love to see you, be part of our program, inshallah. and we will get started momentarily. All right, inshallah. A'uzu billahi minash shaytanir rajim. Bismillahir rahmanir rahim. As-salamu alaykum, everybody, and welcome to our Rising Together Community Educational Workshop. we are really excited to have everybody here with us today, alhamdulillah. today we have Sheikh Azhar Nasser and he will be covering the topic nurturing faith and responsibility. so inshallah building responsible Muslims. so we're going to go ahead and get started with our program today, inshallah. So just little bit about our program our school so Rice our program is hosted by Rice Schools and one of the schools that are in our division are Rice Institute. alhamdulillah Rice Institute is K-12 virtual school for students all over the US, Canada, and beyond. And we have about 210 students enrolled this year. and not only do we offer full-time online program, but we offer la carte program, which is taking specific classes to complement homeschooling program. We have K-5 home study program and we also have micro schools located throughout the world and inshallah we hope to be able to bring micro school to your home, inshallah. All right, so we're very excited today. our guest scholar Sheikh Azhar Nasser, he really truly bridges the gap between our academic world and our spiritual heart. he was born and raised in Michigan and began his journey studying the complexities of human society earning degree in cultural anthropology at the University of Michigan. but again his quest for knowledge didn't end there. he completed his houses studies in Najaf, where he studied under Ayatollah Sistani and Ayatollah Hakim. so we are really excited today to have Sheikh Azhar Nasser, he serves as religious director of curriculum planning and he's co-founder of Tayseer Institute. So please join us with salawat for welcoming our our progra- our speaker for today, inshallah. So, Allahumma salli ala Muhammad wa ale Muhammad. Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa sallallahu ala Sayyidina wa Nabiyina Muhammad wa ala ahli baytihi al-tayyibeen al-tahireen. Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin wa ali Muhammad. Salaam Alaykum. dear brothers and sisters, wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu. I'd like to thank the the Rise Academy for their their gracious invitation. And was quite intrigued by by the topic, especially the connection between between faith and financial responsibility, which is which is, you know, top topic that is rarely discussed in our circles. So, the way that we're going to go through the program today is that I'll speak for about 30 to 40 minutes, and then inshallah, I'll be taking some of your questions. I'll try to answer as many of them as can. And if don't get to all of them, maybe sister Tina can send me the rest through email, and then inshallah, we can cover the rest. So, as an introduction, think it's important for us to to highlight that one of the things that makes the Islamic tradition unique from others is that Islam, unlike many other faith traditions, is comprehensive and holistic tradition. Which means that the religion of Islam was never meant to be compartmentalized. This is not religion that is simply practiced, you know, once once week or, you know, relegated to the four the four walls of the masjid. Indeed, the religion of Islam is comprehensive system of guidance that addresses the social, emotional, and even the spiritual, and as well as the the economic needs of the individual and of society. And what we find is that one of the one of the objectives of Islamic law in fact is the preservation and the development of wealth within society. You know, so when we speak about faith and financial responsibility, what we see is that the Quran actually does not separate the two. It very much pairs the two together. You know, if you look at the Quran, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he speaks about the believers, he speaks about and he describes the believers as those who establish prayer, alladhina yuqimuna al-salat wa yu'tuna al-zakat. That the believer is the one who establishes prayer and pays charity. So, the obligations of of zakat and khums, for instance, are seen as economic pillars of worship. And thus, it's important for us to see the way that we acquire wealth and the way that we spend our wealth as part of our part of our worship. It's really amazing and remarkable that when you look at the ahadith of ahlul bayt, you find that we have many ahadith that speak about financial matters. You know, if you look at, for example, the sections in the books of Hadith, the sections on commerce, the sections on on spending, you know, what's wajib, what's haram, what's makruh, what's mustahab, you'll find hundreds and hundreds of Hadith that relate to financial issues. But what you find is that not only did not only do the Ahlul Bayt speak about what is permissible and what is forbidden in terms of how we use our wealth, but Ahlul Bayt alayhis salaam, they focused heavily on the psychology of wealth, which is essentially prerequisite to making healthy economic choices. They teach us how to think about money, not just how to lawfully acquire it and how to lawfully spend it, but what should our relationship with with money be? And you find that when you look at the Quran, when you look at the Ahadith, the Quran is very clear that the love the love for wealth is something that is actually innate in us. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, for example, in Surat al-Fajr, he describes this this human tendency to want wealth, to seek out, you know, things that are going to make our lives comfortable. And hence Allah says, "Wa tuhibbuna al-mala hubban jamma." That you, human beings, you have an intense love for wealth. In fact, the Quran sometimes refers to wealth as khair. That the loving that which is good, because an abundance of good can be achieved through wealth. Now, when you look at the the Ahadith of the Prophet, one thing that's that's striking is that the Prophet Ali Ali it's reported that he said that do not fear what fear for you is not actually poverty. There's something that is actually potentially even more dangerous than poverty and that is abundance. What's interesting is that if you look at human history people are more likely to deviate in times of ease and affluence than in times of difficulty and and poverty. In fact, usually when people are suffering financially, they tend to find God. They tend to find religion. They become more humbled. Whereas when people are exposed, when people are granted affluence, when they're granted abundance, this is where there is that that danger of going astray. And hence you find that Imam Al Kazem Ali our seventh Imam he warned us about being obsessed with the material world. The Imam Ali he says method method of dunya method of ba the parable of the material world is that it is similar to sea water. It's similar to the water of the sea. Kullama shariba minhu atshan izdad atshan hatta yaqtula that the the parable of this material world is like the parable of the of the sea. The more thirsty person drinks from it, the thirstier they become. The thirstier they become until ultimately it causes them to perish. So these these narrations, they attempt to nurture vigilant mindset towards the the pursuit of wealth. But rather than simply warning the believers of the potential pitfalls of chasing money, Islam actually provides guidance on how to reframe our relationship with wealth. And it provides number of very important principles. And these are principles that, you know, we need to instill in children from very young age. Number one, in capitalistic systems and capitalism, capitalism posits that the individual is the true owner of their wealth and their possessions. Whereas in Islam, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the true owner of all wealth. And we are simply we simply function as trustees. And this is based on Quranic verse in Surah 57, Ayah number seven, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He says, "Aaminu billahi wa rasulihi." Believe in Allah, believe in God and his messenger. "Wa an fiqu mimma ja'alakum mustakhlafina fi." And spend of what God has made you trustees over. "Wa an fiqu." Allah doesn't say, "Spend the money that you own." Allah says, "And spend of what he has made you trustees over. And verily those among you who believe and who spend, and by the way, the word infaq in the Arabic language is is fascinating word because it refers to very specific type of charity. You see the word infaq, it's derived from the word nafaq, which is basically hole or tunnel. And the idea is that infaq is to give is type of charity that fills societal gap. It's type of charity that fills societal gap. So when we teach our children to give, we have to first train them to understand why they are giving. What problem are they solving? What societal gap are they filling through this charity? So the charity needs to be mindful and needs to be intentional. So therefore the Quran makes it very clear as first principle that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the true owner of all wealth. And once we internalize our role as trustees we become responsible for safeguarding the trust. And understanding the the terms of the trust to determine who has rights over the assets and the distribution and the distribution of the assets to the to the deserving parties. So this is number one, understanding and internalizing the fact that we are not the true owners of our possessions and our wealth. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the is the ultimate owner. Secondly, what you find is that there's there's Hadith from Imam al-Sadiq where the Hadith speaks about the the paradox of pursuing wealth. And by pursuing wealth, we mean that kind of unfettered unfettered unhealthy pursuit of wealth, where we make the pursuit of wealth and wealth the the goal rather than the means. Imam al-Sadiq alayhis salaam in famous Hadith, he says, "Man asbaha wa amsa wa dunya akbar hammih. Whoever, you know, wakes up in the morning and goes to sleep at night while the dunya, the material world, is their greatest concern. What happens to such person? What is the natural outcome of such mindset? The Imam says, "Ja'al Allahu al-faqra bayna aynayh. God places poverty before their eyes. They develop sort of financial anxiety. Wa shattata amrah. And their affairs become confounded. Wa lam yanal min al-dunya illa ma qassam illa ma qassa qassam Allahu lah. And that such person will not gain from the dunya except what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has apportioned for them. And then the Imam says, "Wa man asbaha wa amsa wal akhiratu akbar hammih. And whoever wakes up in the morning and goes to sleep at night while the hereafter is their main concern, is their greatest concern, ja'al Allahu al-ghina fi qalbih. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he places contentment in the heart of such person amaran. So this this Hadith from Imam Sadiq it establishes an essential psychological principle of wealth in Islam. And that is that chasing money making money our ultimate pursuit it actually leads to financial anxiety. Whereas if someone is actually chasing and pursuing the reward of the hereafter and the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala this actually leads to to financial contentment. Now when it comes to how how we spend Islam doesn't only teach us that that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the ultimate owner of all wealth. Not only are we warned about the unfettered pursuit of of wealth. The Quran actually establishes guiding principle when it comes to when it comes to spending. If you look at Surah Surah number 25 number 67 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala establishes an important principle when it comes to financial responsibility when it comes to spending. He says am faku when am faku lam yusrifu. The believers about Rahman because this ayah this ayah is comes in in discussion about the qualities of the servants of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the true servants of Allah about Rahman. When am faku lam yusrifu. They are those who when they spend they are not extravagant. When am nor are they stingy. They're not extravagant nor are they stingy. They find middle ground. They find that middle path. They observe moderation when they spend. And you find that actually emphasize because there are some people who are stingy with their families. And perhaps, you know, the worst people to be stingy with is your family. The actually tell us that it's recommended to work hard and to provide comfortable life for your family. To provide them beyond the basic necessities. In fact, we have narration from Imam al-Abidin our fourth Imam where he says Allah The most beloved and the ones who are most pleasing to Allah are the ones who are the most generous when it comes to their families. Now, what you find is that in addition to in addition to the this invitation to moderation when it comes to our spending you find that we have many where the Imams actually encourage us to grow our wealth. To invest. In fact, we have narration where one of the companions of the the sixth Imam ibn A'yan he asks the Imam about about money. And what person should do with their money. So, the Imam he says You know, one of the worst things that person can leave behind is money that's not being used. Money that's just sitting around. So, the narrator, he asks the Imam, What should person What should believer do with the cash that they have, especially if they have money that's just sitting around? So, the Imam, he says, Well, bust on that believer should invest their money in an orchard, in garden, in home, something that can generate revenue. Because ultimately, my dear brothers and sisters, what you find is that as momineen, and know, of course, you know, in the current economic climate, you know, it's not easy for many people to save, but the but the Hadith actually encourage us to organize our lives and to financially plan in way where we don't have to work too hard, especially later on in life. So, we can devote more time to the pursuit of knowledge, to ibadah, to our families. In fact, you know, we have people like Salman al-Farsi who was famous who was famously known for his financial planning. So much so that later on in his life, he didn't really need to work out of necessity because he had planned his life in way where he had enough to sustain himself, especially in in his later years. So, there is this emphasis on on investments and ensuring that that our wealth continues to grow. Because even if someone it to point where, you know, they don't need the money for themselves. But at the end of the day, you know, your community needs money. We have many Islamic organizations, there are many schools, you know, in especially in in North America that need our financial support. And in fact, Ahlul Bayt alayhis salaam, they highlight that the only real wealth that we retain in this world is actually the wealth that we invest in charity. Of course, it's important to invest in things that are that are going to generate revenue for us in this life, but indeed, the real wealth is what we invest in charity. And there's there's very well-known story where one of the wives of the prophet, she reports that one day someone gifted the prophet sheep, you know, some sheep to be slaughtered for for meat. And the narration says, "Annahum dhaba hu shatan." They slaughtered the the sheep, and it was the habit of the prophet that whenever and whenever he was given any type of gift, he would share some of it. He would distribute it. So, the prophet asked, you know, "What has remained from the meat? What has remained from the sheep that was slaughtered?" Qalat, "Ma baqiya illa katifuha." The only thing that has remained for us is the shoulder. Is it the shoulder of the the sheep? This is where the prophet corrects her. He says, "Qala baqiya kulluha ghayra katifiha." The prophet actually says that no, you're wrong. What has actually remained is all of it except for the shoulder, meaning that what we are consuming for ourselves, that is what has been wasted. But what has actually been preserved and saved is that meat that we gave away in charity. And in fact, one of the the tactics of Shaitan in the Quran is Allah tells us Yea do come on Whenever we want to give in the way of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, Shaitan interferes and he puts in our hearts the fear of poverty. You know, you you can try it. The moment you want to give charity, you start thinking about how much money is in my account, you start to think about your bills, you start to think about all of the reasons why you shouldn't give. Allah tells us Shaitan Yea do come on Now, one of and and want to just want to end with this before we go to the the Q&A. What's interesting is that among the things that are mentioned in the Hadith is the Hadith warn us not to go into debt without reason. You know, many of us because we have this what we can call scarcity mindset, we never feel like we have enough. And lot of this is is the result of of social media. You know, we're constantly comparing our lives to the lives of others and we develop this the scarcity mindset. And the consequence of this is that if you look at the the average household in America for example, the average household the average household in America has about 8 to 10,000 dollars in credit card debt for non-essentials. You know, there was report that came out that said that every year Americans pay over hundred and twenty billion dollars in interest fees in interest payments. You know, there was another report that said almost 20% of UK residents they rely on credit cards to pay their to pay their to pay their bills. Now obviously there are some situations where you know, people are you know, they don't have they don't have another option. They're facing financial difficulties. But in many cases we we resort to credit card debt when we can easily avoid it. In fact, even if you look at you know, the history of credit cards, many of you probably remember back in the day that credit cards used to be called charge cards. But it was changed because the idea is that charge card reminds you that you're being charged. That you're actually paying. But when but by calling it credit card it incentivizes you to use it because you know, you get credit. You get credit for using it. But ultimately credit cards are debt cards. Every time you you swipe or you tap that card, you're taking on you're taking on debt. And one of the things that the prophet emphasizes is to avoid debt as much as possible. The prophet he says am going with Dane. Beware of of debt. For in whole Hammond the lane was little bit in the hall. Because debt it causes anxiety at night and humiliation during the day. Because you're the debtors you know, they want to collect their money. At night you're thinking about, you know, all of these financial burdens that you've taken on. So, it's actually great cause of stress for people. Imam as-Sadiq alayhis salaam he makes connection between reducing debt and longevity. He says, "Khaffifu ad-dayn." Reduce your debt. Fa inna fi khiffati ad-dayn ziyadatu al-umur. That you will, in fact, prolong your life by avoiding debt because debt has real effect on person's mental well-being. Now, I'm I'm of course I'm conscious of the of the time. so, maybe I'll transition now to some of the questions that were that were posed posed to me just so we ensure that we can cover as much as we can. Sister Tina, do have your permission to take to answer the questions? Yeah, inshallah. we can start with any questions that we have for the people who are present. And then we can then go on to some of the questions that were sent in. inshallah. No. so, if anybody does want to share their question now, you can send message to one of us. or you can feel free to unmute yourself. Inshallah. Okay. So, we do have question. I'm going to send it to you, Sheikh, directly just cuz it might be easier for you to read. So, the question here is, "How do help my daughter build healthy relationship with money in world that constantly pushes comparison, appearance, and spending. How can parents model respect and maturity through co-parenting in way that positively shapes their child's emotional well-being even if communication between them is difficult after the divorce. think this was one of the questions that was in the was in the email. So, I'll I'll get to that. So, maybe we'll start with that. So, now, when it comes to establishing these these healthy health healthy relationship with with money, especially if there is difference of opinion because often times you might have parents who are not exactly on the same page when it comes to, you know, what what should be done with money or what should the relationship be like with money. Well, num- number one, think what we have to keep in mind is that if you are family that that is is struggling to teach your child about money and what is the what are the Islamic principles regarding money, the first thing that you have to keep in mind is that your role is not to to cancel out the other parent, right? You don't want to criticize the other parent in front of the in in front of the child. Instead, what you want to do is that you want to explain that Islam is all about striking balance. It's all about moderation. You know, so, you know, what do, for example, with with my daughter is that, you know, we teach her that whenever she receives money, there's she she can spend portion of it, she can save por- portion She must She She can spend portion of it. She has to save portion of it for her future, and she also needs to give give portion of it in in charity. So, just training them to think that when when you receive money, their impulse is not to just spend it all. You know, if they whether they receive Eid money or money for their birthday, you know, have them think in those terms that need to divide my money into into three groups. Money spend for the things that need, for the for things that are useful, money that save for rainy day that put away for my future, and money that give in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that give to the to the less fortunate. And think that when whenever your child receives money, whether it's an Eid gift, birthday money, or they they they do some chores and they're compensated, it's important to to remind them number one that Rizq comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This money that you received, yes, you know, friend or relative may have given it to you, and we should be grateful to to people who who give us money, who gift us money, but you also need to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because he is he is ultimately the one who provided you with this sustenance. So, constantly reminding them that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is Ar-Razzaq. And then as said, you know, train them to to spend on what they need, to save, and to give. And also give them agency when it comes to where they want to donate. You know, give them options. So, you know, make them give them an active role in determining how the money is going to be spent and and how it's going to be donated. And think one of the most important things to emphasize is we always have to teach our children that that money should never become part of our identity. Should never become part of our identity. Meaning that we don't we earn money to live with dignity. We earn money so that we can serve our we can take care of our families and we can serve others and we can worship Allah subhana wa ta'ala. We don't earn money to prove our worth. So it's very very important that we emphasize that that that money is an instrument. It is not it is not our identity. So think that think doing that think will have huge impact on on the child and think it will help establish some healthy habits. Okay. So if we have done good for ourselves because of all the hard work put in by us, taught to us by our parents, how do we teach that same hard work to our kids in order for them to learn the value of money instead of feeling entitled to what is provided to them? You know, think that you know, have have your children earn money. You know, if you know, what you can do around the house is especially if you have you know, chores that need to be done. remember growing up you know, my parents wouldn't just give me money. would have to earn money over the summer. They'd let me use the lawn mower and would you know, mow the lawns of of our neighbors and would earn money that way. So think that know you know, it's very tempting as parent to to give your child and you know, to give them what you didn't have. But it's also important to also to give them what you did have. And that is you know, give them those opportunities to earn, give them those experiences, give them those work experiences. So, instead of just giving them money, you know, create system where you reward them for for their hard work. Just so they understand you know, the the value of of money. There is Hadith that talks about in fact in fact is is is matter of between and think it was one of the Imams that hold his first in way that is So, think that the the questioner here is asking about those the narrations where the Imams So, so think there's there's misconception about the financial the financial status of the Imams of Ahlul Bayt. You see, the Imams of Ahlul Bayt were not poor. think there is this idea that because Ahlul Bayt lived simple, minimalistic lives, that means that they were poor and they were destitute. But, the reality is that think the best way to describe all of the Imams of Ahlul Bayt is that the Imams were were high in production, but they were low in consumption. You see, Amir al-Mu'minin Ali as-salam, it's not that he didn't have money. The Imam Ali as-salam, he used to he used to farm. He used to work in in the gardens and in the orchards. He used to earn money. But, he used to consume very little, you know, especially when he was when he was living with Sayyidah Fatima Ali as-salam. They both had very ascetic lifestyle. They had renounced the material pleasures and they wanted to live life of simplicity. So, the Imams they had money, but they used to they used to give to the poor, they used to look after the marginalized. So, again, we're not and and of course there we we do have narrations where the Imams would give all of their the wealth to to the poor. But, we have to understand that when we say that the Imams would give all of their wealth, they they would give for example the money that was on them. They would give all of the gold coins that they had. But, the Imams had they still had businesses, they had land that would generate income for them. Because right now it would be very reckless for someone to just hand over everything that they own to the poor. The Imams are not teaching you to do that. The Imams are saying that you can give give everything that you have provided that you have you have way of generating income for your family. So, if you have if you've set up your life in way where you have businesses that can generate money for you, you know, you can give you you can give everything that you know, the business generates for for that week or that day. But, you still have something to fall back on in terms of providing for for your family. do you mean do you recommend weekly allowance? don't know. think it really depends. you you also don't want to get your kids into the habit of being transactional about everything. think there needs to be balance. So, it shouldn't be that okay, took my dish to the sink, you know, pay me. think there needs to be some balance. Maybe every once in while you can give them project, you can give them something to do where they can earn money. you can help them, you know, write resume or establish small small business that they can run during the summer. think that that's better way. But, to But, to get to point where they're being compensated for, you know, lifting finger at home, think that that can potentially that can potentially backfire on you. Okay. So, So, there was topic about artificial intelligence. And think this is actually quite important to to cover. so, the question was about AI its advantages and disadvantages, and specifically concerns about using AI to to recreate or simulate deceased loved ones. And And what would be the the spiritual impact of doing that? Now, think it's important for us to to first highlight that when we speak about artificial intelligence, when we speak about AI, AI, despite its sophistication, it will always remain tool. AI will always remain as an extension of of human capacity. You know, human beings are not going to get to point where they can create something that has independent consciousness. Because in Islam, in the Islamic tradition, what defines person is not intelligence, it's not memory, it's not the ability to produce speech. In Islam, we believe that what what defines human being is that human being is spirit. human being has rooh. So, no matter how advanced AI becomes, AI does not possess rooh. It does not possess nafs. It is not something that is mukallaf. It It is not It doesn't have legal or moral obligations. So, yes, it AI mimics patterns. It doesn't experience. It doesn't intend. It doesn't have will. So, from an from an Islamic perspective, we can say that AI is is closer to mirror that reflects certain human behaviors rather than being something that is actually or fully or fully human. Now, when it comes to the advantages of using AI, think many of them are are quite obvious, especially when it comes to to knowledge. You know, many of many many of us we use AI now on daily basis. we use it because it it accelerates the speed of our research. It assists us in in translation. AI has allowed us to to access you know, classical knowledge that was inaccessible to us before. So, AI definitely helps when it comes to this the dissemination of knowledge. Many of us use AI because it it really helps us organize our lives. It helps us plan. It helps us with with administration. And it it basically we we we outsource lot of the the tedious tasks that we that we have. And it it frees up our time for for higher pursuits. Now, when it comes to the the dangers of using AI, you know, for me, think that one of the most obvious dangers of AI is that it if we become overly dependent on AI, it can create type of intellectual laziness. You know, and so instead of instead of being people who who think and who reflect and who try to work through through problems, what ends up happening is that we outsource all of that to to AI. We don't even think anymore. We allow AI to do the thinking for us. And you know, thinking and reflecting, these are these are practices and activities that that refine our intellect. So, if we're outsourcing thinking and reflecting, we're never going to be able to to refine our own intellect. And And of course, in addition to all of that, you know, AI, especially when it comes to where it is now in in terms of its development, it AI can produce lot of fabricated narrations. And I've tried it myself. lot of times when you ask it questions, it can give you fake fake sources. So, think we have to be very careful when it comes to you know, the quotations and the the sources that it provides. Now, now we come to the the the the main part of the question, which is, you know, what does Islam say about simulating deceased loved ones and is there anything problematic about that? Now, again, when we when we speak about these simulations, we have to kind of ask ourselves, okay, what exactly is being recreated here? It's not the person, right? The soul has not returned. We haven't restored their their consciousness. What AI can potentially do is that it can recreate the the speech patterns of the person who is deceased. It can generate, you know, some of their their memories and their mannerisms. So, it's type of computer-generated imitation of the person. Now, where does it come bit murky? think that if we do this, this can potentially interfere with the process of grief. Because in Islam, we believe that when someone when someone passes away, they enter into new realm. They enter into Alam will Barzakh. And the whole idea of Alam will Barzakh is that they've now entered into world where they're no longer accessible. So, think that if we become too dependent on these simulations, where we try to kind of keep person alive after they pass away, this may delay an important part of the grieving process, which is to accept that the person has died. So, think if we become too reliant on these these simulations of deceased loved ones, it can it can trap us in this kind of illusion that they're still with us. We can develop an attachment to the to the unreal version of them. And it really it can start to kind of blur the the boundaries between between life and death. And then we also have to take into consideration the the possible the possible disrespect to the deceased, you know, because or when we're reconstructing this person, when this person is being simulated, you know, we're making them speak things that perhaps they've never said. And we've we've reduced their, you know, entire reality to to an algorithm. So, we might not have We have to keep in mind that in Islam the dignity of believer does not end with death. So, if this simulation is is generating voices or behaviors that compromise the dignity of the of the moment, then it can be can be problematic. So, think there think we can come up with more balanced position, which is, you know, there's no problem in in preserving, you know, their voice recordings or, you know, their writings, but think that we have to be careful not to fall into this this this potentially dangerous trap of trying to keep people alive after they pass away, because think it's it's important for us to go through that natural grieving process. And very important part of that is to accept that the person has passed away. There was question also about how parents can prepare themselves to instill Shia practices in young children and practicable practical steps to becoming practicing faith-centered parents. this is good question. And think think at the core parents they have to first become what they wish their children to be. And what mean by that is that we have to model the behavior that that that we want them to to emulate. So, if you want Salah to be an important part of your child's life, it has to be an important part of your life. If you want your children to be punctual in their in their prayers, you have to be punctual in their prayers. So, think that there needs to be consistency in in worship, you know, as as kind of baseline. think that mean there's no reason why families should not be praying congregationally. You know, and and I've said this in many of the places that I've lectured. have yet to to meet family to meet couple especially that prays Jama'ah together and has ended up in divorce. have I've yet to see family that has committed themselves to Salat al-Jama'ah as family and and has fallen apart. haven't seen family fall apart that has really committed themselves to Salat al-Jama'ah. So, so doing you know, performing acts of worship as family, it's very important part of you know, instilling this you know, even creating an atmosphere at home where you know, Quran is recited. There is you know, there's room that's designated for Salah. There's you know, time of day where you know, we recite dua together, that we read together as family. getting your children into the habit of mean this is something that had profound effect on me when was growing up. And that is that, you know, lived with my parents and my grandparents. We were all living, you know, under the same roof. And my my bedtime stories every night were basically stories of the prophets. So, that had profound impact on me. And of course, you know, involving your children early on, you know, you know, it shouldn't be that the majalis are something that are only organized by adults. think you'll be amazed to see how excited and how, how enthusiastic your children would be if you kind of allow them to organize the kids majlis at home. to make them involved, to make them more participate in even the acts of worship at home, whether it's reciting the adhan. mean, remember growing up, you know, we would kind of alternate between my siblings and my cousins were, you know, sometimes would recite the adhan, would do the takibat, would lead tasbih al-Zahra. So, getting them more involved by making them active active participants and rewarding them, you know, for example, if, you know, give reward for someone who recites the the adhan the adhan perfectly without mistakes. So, incentivize them with with gifts. And also, very important part of is instilling Shia practices is that, teaching your children to to admit when they make mistakes. And it starts with the parents, you know, if you if you apologize to your child for raising your voice, for example, that teaches your child that, you know, we all make mistakes. And you know, if my parents make mistakes and they apologize, that means that when make mistake, also have to admit my mistake and apologize. So, you know, modeling that that good akhlaq, think is the is the best way. Because, you know, children experience Islam through your behavior. And think that's what we have to remember as parents. That, you know, before that your children read the Quran or read the ahadith, they're reading you. You are their representation of Islam. So, don't think I'm going to be able to get to all of these Yes. so, Sheikh, was going to say alhamdulillah, we we do have couple more questions, but can send you these questions and then you can reply to them via chat and then I'll I'll forward it on inshallah to everybody. if you did want to take one more question, we could take that. otherwise, we can wrap up here. So, there's question here that says is it okay for one to give lots of charity, but then have but then have basic needs for his own family. So, you know, if by basic needs you mean the bare minimum, then then no. think that when we say that person has to take care of their family, you have to provide them not just with their basic basic needs. You have to provide them life that is that kind of aligns with their social economic status. So, it's not to just say that okay, you know, here's can of tuna and here's roof over your head. No, it it needs to be commensurate with the the social economic status of of that family. And in fact, if if you ever want to give charity and you have, you know, cousin who is financially struggling. In Islam, priority is given to your nearest of kin. So, there's actually more reward in giving charity to family and extended family before charity is given to strangers. You know, some of us we might think it's the opposite that for charity to really count, have to give it to stranger. But, in reality, Islam says that if you have people who are you have family members or relatives who are financially struggling, they they are to be given priority. Thank you much so much, Sheikh. so, inshallah, I'm going to screen. You can go ahead and share the screen. So, inshallah, Sheikh, if we can just ask you to one more thing before you log off. if you can lead us in Surah Fatiha. Yes, if we can just recite Surah Al-Fatiha for the for the generous sponsor Sayed Muhammad Haider Zaidi and all of the the marhumeen that you see on your screen. Bismillah Rahman Raheem. Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem Maliki Yawm id-Din Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in Ihdina siratal mustaqim siratal ladhina an'amta alayhim ghayril maghdubi alayhim walad daalleen. Thank you so much for the health and the continued tawfiq of Sheikh. You can please recite salawat for him. All right. Thank you so much, everybody. if you enjoyed our programming and have benefited, we would love to see your guys' response in our survey. Our survey is really important because we have taken this program. This used to be for parents only part of our school, and we wanted to lead community-led workshops because what we're doing inside of our school shouldn't be just contained within those four walls, but should be opened up to our community. So, if you would like to continue to see these programs, have suggestions on the topics that are coming up as we prepare for next year's Rising Together programs, we would love to hear from you, inshallah. We do have two more two more program programs left. my goodness, alhamdulillah. Throughout this year, so we'll have one in May and one in June, inshallah. Also, we are proud to be sharing our open house are starting. We'll have three open houses this year. Each will be focused on different section of our school. One will be April 29th. We'll focus on our elementary programming. May 20th, we'll focus on our middle school programming. And June 10th, we'll focus on our high school programming. So, if you'd love to hear more about RISE, please go ahead and register or reach out to our school, inshallah, and we'll make sure to get you registered. As said, we do have two more Rising Together series events coming up. Next month, we'll have Shaheen Morali. She is an author, and you guys might have read some of her books, inshallah. So, we'll have special breakout session event where we'll, inshallah, invite our brothers and sisters to be present, but we'll have portion together and portion in breakout rooms. so, you can ask your gender-specific questions, inshallah. So, thank you guys so much for attending today, and we will see you next month, inshallah. Fee aman Allah. We'll see everybody soon. Ms. Green, will the chat download? do you know? Pardon? Say that one more time. Did Will the chat download on your computer so that not done. don't have that enabled. Okay. I'm just trying to get screenshots of everything.