The First Step Towards Change - Lecture 8
10thJanuary 2011

1. Whenever we learn something, it would be of little benefit as an abstract understanding without being put into practice. In the same way, when one understands the concepts of truth, justice and freedom, without bringing them into fruition they would remain abstract concepts. To realise them, one needs to change.
2. The first pre-requisite to change is to contemplate and think. Think of what needs to be changed, why it needs to be changed, the benefits and possible negative outcomes of such a change and finally a game plan for how to bring about this change.
The best manner to change one’s own ‘self’ is through introspection in order to bring about organisation within ‘the self’.
3. We find in the world around us that there are people who are organised externally; however, internally they are in turmoil. Such is the example of those who have indulged into sin in the material life. We find that they may have fame, money, they may be living at the peak of luxury, yet it is these same people who flood rehabilitation programmes, who are depressed and who cannot control their addictions. These are people who feel emptiness within themselves.
On the other hand, we find people who have little, yet they are content with what Allah has provided them with.
4. With close observation, we also find that when one desires change, it is possible that they fall into an extreme, where they try to change too quickly. If one tries to change overnight, most probably, his actions will not last too long.
5. In order to make real change, permanent change, one needs to firstly accept that they have faults. Then, they need to find those faults and the best method to find those faults is by
thinking. As Imam Ali (PBUH) says, “Thinking is a clear mirror” and “Thinking pushes one to righteousness and good action”.
6. Now that one has understood the concepts of truth, justice and freedom, they begin to act in order to change, slowly yet steadily and without greed. Here, we may ask, are there a people whom God has made more receptive and more energetic when it comes to ‘action’ and ‘change’ both individually and in society? The answer, yes. In a final statement of the Prophet (PBUH) to Abu Dharr, he mentions, that there are two practices which have been taken for granted, and that mankind misuses them. They are health and spare time.

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True Freedom - Lecture 7
10thJanuary 2011
1. One of the calls of Imam Husain (PBUH) on the day of Ashura to his attackers was, “If you do not have a religion, and you do not fear the day of judgement then at least be free in your world”. This is a very significant call, as it is possible that had the attackers of Imam been free in their world, they would have probably come back under the fold of true Islam, thereby showing us the importance of freedom.
2. When we look around the world, we tend to witnesses that the demands for freedom are for ‘physical freedom’, freedom to vote, for basic necessities, for a lower cost of living and so on. The example of the recent ‘Arab Spring’ is apt in order to visualise physical freedom. It united millions of people around the world under the banner of freedom. Yet, we find that the freedom which was sought for by those individuals was a freedom which we possess here in western countries, but despite this physical freedom, morality is still on the decline in our societies.
3. We also find through a tradition of Imam Ali (PBUH), that we were born free, and that if we are enslaved at present, then it is due to our own actions. He says, “O people, Adam never gave birth to a bondsman or a bondswoman, all people are free”.
4. In order to understand the underlying factor which is causing a barrier for us to reach freedom, we should look for the true definition of freedom and mirror it to our lives. When asking the Ahlulbayt for the true definition, we find that they define it as follows:
“One who leaves his base desires is free”
Imam Ali (PBUH)
5. Such eloquence! Have we ever thought to ourselves that we could be slaves to our own selves? That if I was to free myself from my own ‘self’ then I would truly be a subservient
creature to Allah. This is yet another proof that the root for all good in Islam is in working with one’s own self. Islam is about perfecting morality and struggling against the ‘self’.
6. One must control their anger, their desire for food, their desire for the opposite gender, ones thoughts, imagination, tongue, ears, eyes and so on, in order to become free from their base desires.
7. Of course, Satan will not allow for this transition to be easy. He will try his level best to beautify sins for us. We can cite here the example of how the physical aspect of hijab for a woman may be seen as enslavement and a barrier for progression in society. Satan may garb the sin of beautifying one’s self to other than the blood-relations, by presenting it as an act of freedom. Yet we find that a woman who allows for others to share her beauty has in actual fact lost her freedom and value. The same beauty which was to remain for her husband has been exposed to the public.

[2:208] O you who believe! Enter into submission one and all and do not follow the footsteps of Satan; surely he is your open enemy.

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