WEBVTT

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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- My name's Naveed, and
I'm one of the imams

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here at Shah Jahan Mosque.

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An imam is someone who
leads the five daily prayers

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at the mosque, and he might
also have other jobs looking

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after the community.

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- My day begins with waking up
for the morning prayer, which

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is the first prayer
that we pray.

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And that would mean that
you would wake up just

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before sunrise, and the first
thing I would do is wash.

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The washing is called
the wudu, or ablution.

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And it's something that we
have to do before we pray,

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as Muslims, and also
before we touch the Qur'an.

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[SPEAKING IN ARABIC]

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- So after the prayer, we would
read some additional prayers,

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or read some of the Qur'an.

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[SPEAKING IN ARABIC]

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The prayers are done in
Arabic, and the reason they are

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in Arabic is the Qur'an, which
is the holy book for Muslims,

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is in Arabic.

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And in the prayer, we have to
read some of the verses from

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the Qur'an.

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[SPEAKING IN ARABIC]

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Then we would have
breakfast together.

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Sometimes I cook it,
sometimes my wife cooks it.

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But the kids prefer
the wife's cooking

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rather than dad's cooking,
because I just give them

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toast with beans or something.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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So as Muslims, we
pray five times a day.

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And those five prayers are
spread throughout the day,

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and they follow the
motion of the sun.

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So we have a prayer just before
sunrise, early morning, which

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is called the Fajr prayer.

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Then we have a prayer
at midday, when

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sun is at its highest
point in the sky, which

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is called the Zuhr prayer.

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Then we have an afternoon
prayer, which is called Asr.

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And then we have a
prayer, just at sunset,

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which is called Maghrib.

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And then a nighttime
prayer, once it's gone

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dark, which is called Isha.

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So when we pray as
Muslims, you will

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see that prayer is a number of
different motions of the body.

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So we would be standing,
then we're going to bowing,

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and then going into
prostration, which is putting

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your forehead onto the ground.

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And the reason why we have
these different motions

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in the prayer, is
because it shows

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you're being a servant of
God and worshipping Him.

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I dress like this mainly
because it is something

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that the Prophet Muhammad,
a way that he dressed,

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but also it makes it easier
when it comes to the prayer.

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When we pray, we're not allowed
show too much of the body, so

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not a lot of skin, so
wearing the long robe

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helps you to cover
that quite easily.

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Having a beard is something
which the Prophet Muhammad,

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he grew his beard,
and at that time,

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generally, men had beards.

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So anything that
Prophet Muhammad did,

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we would call it sunnah.

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So anything that he did is
recommended for us, as Muslims,

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to imitate and copy.

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Friday is the holy
day for Muslims,

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and it's the only day, and
the only prayer in the week

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where Muslim adults have to
come to the mosque to pray.

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Men would be praying
together, and women

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would be praying together.

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What we're not allowed,
is men and women

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intermingling together.

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So a man being praying
next to a woman.

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And the reason for that is how
naturally the opposite sexes

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are attracted to each other,
and you would lose concentration

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in the prayer.

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So if you have
the facilities, we

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would have a prayer hall for
men and a prayer hall for women.

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[SPEAKING IN ARABIC]

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- So on a Friday, we
would have the khutbah,

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and the khutbah is a sermon
that the imam delivers,

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which is a speech reminding
the Muslim community about some

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of the morals and values
that Islam teaches.

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- So they see you driving
around in your flash

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cars and the like,
and they think

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that's the way that I
can achieve success.

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That's not success.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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- Once we've done the midday
prayer, if I can fit in lunch,

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I try to fit in lunch somewhere.

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Most of the time
it's takeaway food,

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but sometimes I try to get
home to have something healthy

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that my wife's cooked up.

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But most of the time
it's something unhealthy.

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My role here is as
the imam, but also I

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have a wider role
within the community,

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and that is to serve the
Muslims in the community,

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and also the non-Muslims
within the community.

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That means I would
visit local schools,

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take assemblies, also
visiting local hospitals,

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visiting local prisons, and
helping in those prisons,

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whether that's
religious counselling,

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whether that's advice.

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And sometimes it's just
simply visiting people

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for the sake of friendship.

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So here, at the mosque, we
have a weekday madrassah

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and a weekend madrassah.

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A madrassah is a
part time school

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for the Muslims
in the community.

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And they would come here
around 4:30 in the afternoon

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for a couple of hours, and they
would learn how to read Arabic,

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how to read the Qur'an, and also
learn some of the basic beliefs

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that we have as Muslims.

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[SPEAKING IN ARABIC]

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- In my spare time
I like to stay fit,

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so I like doing football,
and I like doing cycling.

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So I try to do them as much
as I can, whenever I get time.

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I'm not the best at
them, but I do try.

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I try to get home for
the Maghrib prayer,

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and I'll do that with
my wife and kids.

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Once we've finished the
prayer, I'll play with my kids

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for a short time.

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As Muslims, we have to eat
something called halal food.

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That's just normal
food, but it's just,

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halal means that it's permitted.

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Because there's certain
foods that are not permitted,

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for example, pork is not
permitted for us, as Muslims,

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to eat.

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We're also not allowed
to drink alcohol.

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Pretty much everything
else, we're allowed to eat.

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At home, it doesn't
restrict our cooking.

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I'm not a great cook, but I can
cook some foods really well.

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My kids don't like
it, but tough luck.

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They eat what they're given!

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So once we've finished
the nighttime prayers,

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I would try to aim for
12 o'clock to be in bed.

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But it's not always
the case, because I'll

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have quite a bit of
work to do sometimes,

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I would get to sleep probably
just after 12 o'clock

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or close to half 12 at night.

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The thing I find most
rewarding about being an imam

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is just being there
for other people.

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And that's what an imam
really should be doing

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and what his role
is, that he makes

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himself available to others.

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And when people come to
you with their issues,

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and with their
problems, and just

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being there to help
resolve those issues,

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it's really rewarding.

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But just being there
and doing that,

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you feel some sort
of reward inside,

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that I'm actually involved
in helping other people.

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And whether that's
Muslim or non-Muslim,

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just being there
for other people

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is the greatest thing that,
I think, anyone can do.

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