Professor Sulayman Nyang speaks at the ICNA 2010 convention about Gay Marriages, Pre-Marital Sex, Cohabitation, Single Parents and other issues in modern societies pertaining the family today.

“We have certainly created man in the best of stature.” (95:4) Sex, Image and Society — where does society’s widespread expectations of body image, sexuality and wealth fit in with an American Muslim’s identity, modesty and purpose? Recorded at the 51st Annual MSA National Continental Conference in Detroit, MI on Saturday, August 30, 2014.

Countless Muslims are using the search engines of the Internet to search for a spouse. However, a quick perusal of Muslim matrimonial websites reveals how basic Islamic principles are ignored. A person’s income, race, and color – or worse yet, skin tone – are often greater considerations than a person’s piety. The pictures that accompany many “profiles” are indecent. How safe are these sites, especially for women? Why are Muslims using “virtual meat markets” to find a potential spouse? How can our communities facilitate young people’s search for a spouse? What does our religion have to say about contacting perfect strangers of the opposite sex for “love and friendship”? How can we better address the real crisis that lies beneath “Light-skinned Muslimah seeking Muslim doctor to share life with”?

Anyone with even a modicum of exposure to popular culture can see a pervasive occult element in films, television, and music. Vampires, sorcerers, witches, secret society references, and satanic rituals have come out from the shadows and onto center stage in popular culture. Those of us of a certain age have witnessed the increasingly graphic depiction of violence that began with the game-changing 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. This trend now includes a multi-billion dollar game industry with titles like “Grand Theft Auto” and “School Massacre.” Coupled with the violence is the disturbing “pornification” of culture that has resulted in another multi-billion dollar sex industry of exploitation and degradation. Lest we forget, a dark soundtrack to all of this blares out from car stereos and smartphones straight into the ears of our youth, lulling them into a stupor in which reflection and reality to them are as distant and faded as the once bright lights of the now lost night sky. This unsettling talk will take a serious look at the forces behind these trends, their agendas, and the damage they have already inflicted on young minds. It will also give practical means to mitigate the influence in our homes and communities, and provide strategies for combating it. Please note: Given the subject matter and the use of some graphic images, please consider this session rated PG 13.

An in-depth exploration into the concept of “iman” (or faith) in Islam, and its application and implication for human beings in general and for those who call themselves Muslims. This near three-hour session is an intense survey of the human condition in the world today and what the human being must believe, from the Islamic perspective, in order to have hope for security and peace in this life and the hereafter. These objects of belief, which are known as the “articles of faith” in Islam, are what’s at the core of this highly stimulating lecture. These six articles are: belief in the one God, the revealed books, the prophets and messengers, the angels, predestination, and the Day of Judgment. An amazing session that also makes many comparisons to the Judeo-Christian understanding of God’s imminence, salvation, and other very relevant issues pertaining to faith. (Recorded at the Dar al Islam Teachers’ Institute seminar). Other topics discussed: the fitrah (the natural desire to believe in one God), the human intellect, faith vs. disbelief, deja-vu, heedlessness, the transcendence and imminence of God, negation and affirmation within the human psyche, the nafs (the commanding self, the regretful self, and the peaceful self), the philosophical problem of evil in the world, Salmon Rushdie and capital punishment, the five objectives of the Islamic law, inheritance laws, homosexuality, the desire for massive stimulation, the stages of life, the after-death experience, God’s mercy and wrath, suicide, slandering prophets, and Muslim countries today implementing Islamic law.

Lecture by Sheikh Khalid Yasin at the University of Essex’s Islamic Society International Conference titled “A Journey into Islamic Values” held on 23rd February 2008.

Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: Part 5: Part 6: Part 7: