فشرف بي لشتغالي بالعلم ولا تبغي به ما عشت يا بابا دلا وياله من شراف عظيمي الذي جعل الحج مقامل للتعلم وفق فيه من شاء من عباده إلى الدين القويم وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمد عبده ورسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم ما علم الحجاج وعلى آله وصحابته خيرة وفد الحاج أما بعد بذن الله تعالى this class in these three days we'll be going through the book by شيخ العلامة عبد عزيز ابن عبد الله ابن باز رحمه الله تعالى a book which is called التحقيق والإضاح لكثير من مساء للحج والعمرة والزيارة وشيخ رحمه الله تعالى رأت this book in the year 1363 يعني over almost 1960 years ago and from the عادة عهل العلم is that whenever a time a Muslim comes at a season for good deeds for example Ramadan or Hajj or something like that they will start teaching the ahkam the rulings that are obtained to that certain season for example when Ramadan comes you find a lot of the علماء they start teaching the ahkam fasting and some of them even start teaching the ahkam of the zakah based on the opinion that the zakah is better in Ramadan and similar to that is some of the علماء whenever the time of Hajj comes they start teaching the books that are obtained into the rulings of Hajj and right now we're in the 14th of ذلقائدة and the Hajj will be started in less than 20 days and for that reason we chose to teach the book تحقيق والإضاح بشيخ عبد العزيز عبد الله عبد الباز رحمه الله تعالى and the way we're going to go through this book is not going to be word by word we're going to go through it in different ways some chapters we might just completely skip because of the time we only got 3 days and we have an hour an hour and a half for each day and some chapters we're going to go through word by word and some chapters we're going to go through with summary through summary so with those 3 we're either going to skip some chapters and some chapters we're going to go through word by word and some chapters we're going to go through with a summary basically بيد الله تعالى so the first part that we're going to talk about بيد الله is وشيخ عبد العزيز الرحمه الله تعالى the reason why he wrote the book and if it is the first fossil that he brings and we're going to read it inshallah I wouldn't translate everything but we're going to go through the things that I believe is important بيد الله تعالى بسم الله الرحمة الرحمة الرحمة العالمي العقب today صلى الله عليه وسلم عليه والقصة أما بعد فهذه رسالة مختصرًا في الحج وبيان فضله وأدابي وما ينبغي لمن أراد السفر لأدائه وبيان مسائل كثيرة المهمة المسائل الحج والعمرة وزيارة على سبيل الإختصار والإضاح قد تحريت فيها ما دل على عليه كتاب الله وسلم رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم جمعتها نصيعة للمسلمين وعمل بقوله تعالى وذكل فإن ذكرها تنفع المؤمنين الشيخ رحمه الله تعالى يستاصبا سين ذهي رأيه هذه المسائل مختصرًا as a summary so it's not going in complete detail on every single thing that a person needs in Hajj meaning that the issues that the sheikh doesn't bring in this book and you find these issues in مطولات الفخ you find big books of Fikr and different Madahib they have written long books on Fikr for example you have نقدامة يزل مغني and نوي يزل مجموع الشبه المهذب and these kind of books in these books they go into more detail as for this what we're going to go through is in less detail than compared to those books but it is focused only on Hajj and it's not going to necessarily cover every single part of Hajj and he says he wrote this book نصيحة اللي المسلمين as a نصيحة which is advice for the Muslims because he wants to act by the قول الله سبحانه و تعالى when he says و ذكر فإن ذكرها تنفع المؤمنين remind because the reminder benefits the believers و قوله تعالى و إذا أخذ الله مثاقا الذين أوتوا الكتاب لتبينه للناس ولا تكتمونه و قوله تعالى و تعاونوا على البر والتقوى كوكما في الحديث الصحيحة للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال الدين النصيحة the professor of the hadith أن حديث الدين النصيحة the whole of the religion is sincere counsel to the Muslims و روى الطبراني عن حديثة أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال من لم يهتم بأمر المسلمين فليس منهم و من لم يمس و يصبح ناصحة لله والكتابه و ليه رسوله و ليه أمته المسلمين و أعمته فليس منهم and this hadith about طبراني رحمه الله تعالى and narrated is a weak hadith is a weak hadith but the meaning is correct and it says that whoever does not care about the affairs of the Muslim then he is not from amongst them and so this is the reason why he compiled this book فصل the next chapter so that was just the introduction and we're going to go through this quite fast because this is the introduction part in Salah when it comes to the part of the Nusuk the actual rulings pertaining to Hajj we're going to slow down and go into more detail with Allah so he says فصل في أدلة وجوب الحج والعمرة والموادرة إلى أدائها but the rulumah رحمه الله تعالى they have the difference of opinion whether Hajj and umrah are both wajib or whether it's just Hajj and the sheik رحمه الله تعالى goes upon the opinion of the شافعية and the Hanabillah that the umrah is also wajib as well as the Hajj as for the Hajj then it is wajib بالكتاب والسنة والإجماع the Quran and the sunnah the Hajj is wajib الله سبحانه وتعالى says والله على الناس حج البيتي على قراءه حج البيتي من استطاع إليه سبيلا it is upon الله سبحانه وتعالى this is the delil in Surah Al Imran الله سبحانه وتعالى says والله على الناس حج البيتي من استطاع إليه سبيلا الله سبحانه وتعالى has obligated Hajj to the whole of all of the humans whoever is able to go to Hajj because the sunnah the prophet said الله سبحانه وتعالى has command you to do Hajj so do Hajj and the ijmaa is found that there is a consensus amongst the ulama the Hajj is wajib upon the Muslims فمن أنكروا وجوبها فقد كفر you ever denies that Hajj is something that is wajib then he has left the fold of Islam because Hajj is something that is known in the Deen بالضرورة it is known in the religion by necessity so the sheikh رحمه الله تعالى in this chapter he brings the evidences to show that Hajj is wajib and also to show that Umrah is wajib and the evidences that he brought are two types which is number one that are صريحة are clear evidences to show that Hajj and Umrah are wajib but they are not authentic meaning that every single Khalif that has come to show that Umrah is wajib is wajibah is not authentic there has not come a hadith in that as for that hadith that has come to show that Hajj is wajib then you have established that right we already know that Hajj is wajib as for the Umrah then there is nothing that has come from the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to say that the Umrah is wajibah and the ulama رحمه الله رحمه الله تعالى they take an author from عبد الله بن عباس and other صحابة in which they say and it is not known that anyone has opposed these companions in this opinion is not known it has not been narrated from the companions that they have opposed this opinion of بن عباس so the fact that بن عباس said this now according to the opinion that the قول of the صحابي the speech of the صحابة is a حجة is an evidence this shows that the fact that بن عباس said it and know as evidence if no one goes against them by the way the speech of the صحابي is evidence if no one goes against them so the fact that بن عباس said this now and it is not known that anyone went against بن عباس that Umrah is also wajibah this is the evidence that they use to show that Umrah is wajibah and this is the opinion of the شافعية and the حنابيلا so they say that but we don't say that Umrah is a رقركن isn't this a pillar from the pillars of Islam rather we say that Umrah is wajibah but حج is a pillar and Umrah is not a pillar of Islam so that's the second that's the second فصل which he brings the second chapter which he brings فصل في وجوب التوبة من المعاصي والخلوج من المظالم now he brings a chapter in which he talks about the before a person comes out from حج he comes out to travel to travel for حج it is known that back in the days especially in the early generations when they didn't have the transport means that we have today that a person may go to حج for six, seven months and even he may never even return because he might die from the journey and stuff like that so the علماء رحمه الله تعالى they bring a فصل they bring a chapter because of that showing the telling the people that a person before they go حج they must do certain things and basically run in their errands they must like close everything that they have in their own country any dain any loans any oppression that they have done they must repay that person so if a person has taken someone's money he must go take bring that money back and they also bring a توبة that a person should do توبة before he goes to حج and علماء رحمه الله تعالى they mention one which I'm going to mention here and I'm going to skip this chapter إذن الله which is that they say that a person who the الشيخ عبد العزيز he mentions that a person should not ask people for money and he says that they bring the حديث وما يستعفف يُعِفُوا الله whoever doesn't ask then Allah will be enough for him and he brings this in this point of the book because there's some علماء who actually say that if there's a person who likes to ask people for money he likes to ask people for money then this person has to ask people for money to go to حج without money so the الشيخ رحمه الله تعالى refruits that by saying by bringing the حديث وما يستعفف يُعِفُوا الله whoever is chased is chased Allah سبحانه وتعالى will be will suffice him will be enough for him so this shows that person should not ask even if he's عادة he does ask people even though it's not a good عادة it's not a good thing to do but they say that he should not ask people for the money to go to حج and a person before they go to حج they should repent from their sins and they should any someone who has any grudge against them they should settle these differences between their friends and their peers and the Muslims before they go to حج because a person doesn't know whether they're going to come back from حج alive or not and a person when he's going to عالة on the journey to حج and Allah سبحانه وتعالى has invited him to come to حج is from the camel عدب is complete عدب manners is from the good manners for a person to come to Allah سبحانه وتعالى whilst he's free from sins so that's why they mention this before they talk about the manasik of حج the actual things which the actual actions of حج and فصل with the more important part of the book فصل فيما يفعله الحاج عند وصوله إلى الميقات in this chapter الشيخ رحمه الله وتعالى talks about a person who is coming for حج what he does when he comes to the ميقات and the ميقات is are two types the ميقات are two types the first ميقات is المواقيت المكانية the مواقيت which are places the مواقيت which are places and the second type of ميقات are the مواقيت which are زمانية timing and ميقات it comes from the word وقت which is like a time and it is like ميقات مواقيت like ميعاد وموعيد so it means a place or a time in سطلح it is a place or a time of حج the place of حج then the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he told us about the مواقيت for the people who come for حج in terms of place and he said that the ميقات of أهل يمن is يلم لم the ميقات of أهل يمن is يلم لم which is a place next to around around مكة يلم لم and the ميقات of أهل النج is المنازل and the ميقات of أهل الشام is الجحفة and the ميقات of أهل المدينة is ذلح ليفة ذلح ليفة and the علماء رحمهم الله تعالى the أدل النظر a fifth ميقات which was narrated by the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم by was by عمر this place is الميقات after that and this is for the people of العراق so what does the person do when he comes to the الميقات and also this is the first type of ميقات مكانية place and what this means is that a person cannot go past these places if he wants to do حج he wants to come into مكة he's not allowed to go past any one of these places if he wants to do حج و العمر whoever wants to come to do حج و عمر he's not allowed to go past these places except that he's in a state of حرام and the second type of ميقات are the time the timings for حج and حج has a certain time الله سبحانه وتعالى tells us in the وضل حج they are شوال وضل قعدة وضل حج right now we are in وضل قعدة so شوال already went past and وضل قعدة is what we are in now وضل حج and the third month which is the month we are going to next which is actually month where حج takes place is the الحج and this the ruling that are pertaining to this is that حرام for حج specifically except in these three months except in these three months so if a person now right in محرم for example the first month of the Islamic calendar he wants to do حج and he says I'm going to do حج but I'm going to do my حرام now from محرم and then I'm going to go and do حج the علمان they say this person his محرم and he says I'm going to do my حرام for حج he goes to the ميقات and he says لبك الله محجة he says the نية نصك he says this لبك الله محجة he wants to do حج the علمان they say his intention now changes from حج to عمراء automatically he has no trace so that's why we say the ميقات for the time is حرام in شوال أو ذو القعدة أو ذو الحجة نعم so that's the 2 types of ميقات so he says فإذا وصل إلى الميقات اشتحب له وينرتسل when this person now comes to the ميقات it is recommended for him to do غسل ويتطيب and also to put perfume on and this is specifically to نروية عن أن نليه صلى الله عليه وسلم تجرد من المخيطة عند الحرام because it was narrated from the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that when he came when he was doing his الحرام he took off his clothes which are مخيط which are صون made to fit the parts of the body trousers and these kind of things these are called صون المخيط they translate it as صون clothes which is not necessarily correct المخيط is something that is صون to fit the part of the body so something like this something like trousers these are made to fit parts of the body so this is what the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم took off any water to إزار وريداء من المخيط عندهم وغتسل and then the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he bathed he did غسل ولمان ثبت في الصحيح يعني عاشر رضي الله عنها قالت كنت أطيب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الإحرام قبل أن يحرم عاشر رضي الله عنها يتكلم في صحيح بخاري ومسلم that I used to put perfume on the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم before he would go into the state of إحرام وليحله قبل أن يطوف بالبيت and I used to put perfume on the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم for him when he was about to do طواف after he became حلال so he finished his إحرام and he was going to do طواف عاشر رضي الله عنها I used to put perfume on the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم from this the scholars take that it is mustahab for a person when they are about to be in the state of إحرام to have a bath to do غسل and also to put perfume on the body and the prophet in this narrative they used to put on the forehead so when the sweat comes down the sweat will smell nice that's a good trick وعمل عاشر رضي الله عنها لما حاضت وقد أحرمت بالعمرة أن تغتث وتحرم بالحج and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم كماند عاشر رضي الله عنها when she wanted to go to do umrah that she should do غسل and when she wanted to do أحرمت بالعمرة when she was going to do umrah that she should have a bath and then have do her إحرام after that وأمر صلى الله عليه وسلم أسماع بين ترميس and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم كماند أسماع بين ترميس لما ولدت بذل حليفة أن تغتسل وتستثر وتستثر بثوبي وموتحرم so the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم كماند أسماع بين ترميس to do the same and these are what the what the what a person does especially a woman who is in the state of حيد she finished her period is recommend it is obligatory for her to do her غسل and then she should go into إحرام يعني it is obligatory even though a person who is in the حيد they can be in the state of إحرام but if she finishes her حيد she should do غسل and this غسل it is for the حيد not necessary for the إحرام you have to make a difference between these two when a woman finishes her period she now has to do غسل for her period because it is it is obligatory it is obligatory for a woman who finishes her period to do غسل and then this غسل also can be counted for the it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is when she goes into the state of إحرام she if she is in her period then she does everything there are other people who came for her to do except that she doesn't do طواف كما أرى أمر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عائشة وأسماء بذلك because the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم كما دل عائشة and also أسماء to do that meaning that a woman now if she becomes on her period she is still in إحرام and this is the جم there is a consensus among the scholars when she if she is on her period she is still allowed to be in the state of إحرام but they also say that she should not do the طواف because a woman who is on her period does not do طواف so she should wait until her period finishes and then she goes and she does her طواف after that so that's what the sheikh is trying to say is that a woman even though she is on her period she is still going to the state of إحرام but she should do رسل that is the best example which I am trying to say when you reach مقات and you don't pass the evening and I know some people and some people have told me that when they go to the مقات they realize that they were in a period so they didn't do the إحرام and they wanted to مقا and they said they're going to leave مقا later when they finish the period and they go back and they do إحرام and then they go back to مقا and do their عمر or their حج this is a mistake a person, a woman who comes now and she's about to pass the مقات the place where she has to do إحرام from she has to be in the state of إحرام and she's not allowed to pass the مقات except in the state of إحرام even if she's in her period and this is by aجمع so they say and they say ويستحب لمن أراد الإحرام أن يعتعها لشاربه والفاره وعانته وإبطيه and it is recommended for a person who wants to go into the state of إحرام that they trim their مستش and the nails and the pubic hair and the hair under their armpit فيأخذوا ما تدعوا حاجة إلى أخذه لألا يحتاج إلى أخذ ذلك بعد الإحرام وهو محرم علي and the reason why they do this is because it is not allowed for a person who is in the state of إحرام to cut their nails or to shave any hair on their body so before they go into the state of إحرام they should do that and then they're going to stay after that meaning they should cut their nails and then the hair on their body the private parts the pubic hair and the hair under their armpit إلاذي ولن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم شرع على المسلمين تعهد هذه الأشياء في كل وقت كما ثبت في الصحيحين يعني النبيورية رضي الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الفترة وخمس الخيطان والاستحداد وقص الشارب وقلم الأغافر ونتفو الإبط وفي صحيح مسلم عنس رضي الله عنه قال وقت لنا في قص الشارب وقلم الأغافر ونتفو الإبط وحلق العانة ألا نترك ذلك أكثر من أربعين ليلة وأخرجه النسائي بالفضن وقت لنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأخرجه أحمد وابداود واترمذي بالفضن النسائي وأما الرأس فلا يشرع وأخذ شيء منه عند الإحرام لا في حق الرجال ولا في حق النساء فهي يتكلم أنه لا يساعد now for a person who is about to go into the state of إحرام to take from their hair وسبب هذا is because a person when they are about to finish their hajj or their umrah they are going to shave their hair so a person who shaves their hair already before the إحرام but before they finish their hajj or their umrah this person is less in terms of تعاليم grandizing الله سبحانه وتعالى you know the reason why a person cuts their hair when they finish in the hajj is to show their عبودية their worship their worship to الله سبحانه وتعالى their slaves to Allah and to humiliate themselves in front of Allah سبحانه وتعالى so they say that the person who has hair on their head they should not touch it until they go and they do their hajj or umrah for the person who wants to do hajj or umrah and this to show تعاليم الله and he says وأما اللحية فيحر محلقها أو أخذ شيء منها في جميع الأوقات as for the beard then it is حرام to shave it in any time any time it is haram to shave and this is quoted a consensus by أبو محمد to shave the beard and this is also quoted by أبو العباس شيخ الإسلام رحمه الله تعالى and it is also quoted by ابن المنزل رحمه الله تعالى that it is haram for a person to shave the beard إجماعي or meaning by shave is to take off from the from the from the from the from the from the from the from the from the from the from the from the from the from the or shooting و أم الليحة في حر محلقوها or أخضو شيء منها في جمعي الأوقات بل يجبوا إعفاءوها و توفيروها و توفيروها or obligatory for a person now to leave the beard and to make it يعني basically to leave the beard because the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم و خالفوا المشركين go against the مشركين وفروا الليحة و أحفوا و أحفوا الشواري و أحفوا الشواري he said he said he said don't be similar to the مشركين to the non-muslims and leave your beard and trim your moustache and also there's a hadith which is narrated by this in this in this matter و قد أظم أن الشيخ رحمه الله تعالى says as a side point و قد أظمة المصيبة في هذا العصر بمخالفة بمخالفة كثير من الناس هذه السنة و محاربتهم للحع و رضاهم بمشابهة الكفاري والنساء و لاسي ما من ينتسب إلى العلم والتعليم and he says that a lot of people these days they are Muslims it has become a big problem that they have started shaving their beards and they have become happy with مشابهة الكفار imitating the non-muslims and the women for the men to imitate the women this is something that is حرام and he says especially when it comes to those people who attribute themselves to knowledge look at this especially we find a lot of people they attribute themselves to knowledge, students of knowledge and you find them shaving their beards and this is something that goes against the Quran and the Sunnah and the Ijma and the Muru'a it goes against the Quran and the Sunnah and the Ijma and the Muru'a for a person to shave their beards especially a student of knowledge for a person to come as a student of knowledge to not shave their beards it was mentioned by the علماء of the مذاهب الأربعة from the حنفية and the مالكية and the شافعية and the حنابلة all of them have scholars who say that it is against Muru'a which is customs the way of a student of knowledge should uphold himself it goes against that shaving their beards shaving their beards goes against that especially so the شيخ رحم الله تعالى goes in the side point and he says that then he says ثم يلبسوا الذكب الإزار وليداء then when a person now he is at the meqa'at he is in his meqa'at he is at the place he should wear إزار وليداء and إزار is the clothing which is underneath you know they have towels and they put it underneath that's called إزار and the ريداء is the clothing with the cloth which is on top of the top of the body so a person should wear that and that is what a person has to wear when they come to the state of إحرام because it's not allowed for a person who's in the state of إحرام to wear المخيط things that are sewn to body parts so that's why they wear the إزار وليداء ويستحبوا أن يكون أبيضين in a leafing and it is ركماً for these two clothings to be white and clean as for white the Prophet ﷺ he told us that the most beloved clothing to Allah سبحانه و تعالى is the white and the علماء they take kias from this say that because it's the most beloved in all clothing for a person to wear white then it is the most beloved also in the حج for a person to wear white and you know as a side point some علماء they actually say that the Prophet ﷺ when he said that the clothing of a person should be نصف ساق it should go only to half of the ساق لشن meaning it shouldn't go below that and that is the sunnah that some علماء actually say that this is only specifically to the إزار for the person who is wearing the إزار because the Prophet ﷺ he mentioned the حديث the إزار of the believer and the إزار of the believer نصف ساق right he said that he said إزار specifically so the علماء they say if you done بياس to the whiteness of the إزار for clothing when the Prophet ﷺ said that the clothing should be white and you done قياس on that and you said that also the clothing for حج should also be white then why did you not do قياس for إزار should be half on the shin and why didn't you do that for the other clothing so some of them they say the ثوب is not إزار therefore it can be below the shin and it can be below it can go down it doesn't matter so the علماء they actually they said you done قياس for that but you didn't do قياس for this and she brings that point نعم and he says نعم he says and it is recommended for a person to wear two sandals نعم نعم لقول النبي ﷺ وليحرم أحادكم في إزار وليدائي ونعلين كل the Prophet ﷺ إزار وإزار وإزار إحرام إزار which is the lower clothing ووريداء which is the upper clothing ونعلين and two sandals وأم المرأ okay so we're going to go نعلين specifically نعلين we have to talk about that which is that there's three types of shoes that a person can wear when it comes to إحرام that is possible for a person to wear and we're going to speak about the ruling on each shoe each type of thing that they wear on their feet the first one is that they wear shoes which cover their which is which is the top of it is uncovered completely the top of it is uncovered meaning the only basically flip-flops basically flip-flops it's completely uncovered and that is allowed that is what is allowed and نعلن that is allowed and the second type is for and that is allowed and I think أم المرأ brings أجمع on that نعلن أشخ so that's one thing that is allowed number two it is shoes which completely cover the top of the the basically shoes that we went to today and this is where أم المرأ brings أجمع that is not allowed sorry and is المجموع أشخ المهذب he says that it is not allowed I mean this is the opinion even though it might be far-fetched to say it is أجمع but it is opinion of the majority of the إلماء that you're not allowed to wear shoes that cover the whole foot and the ankle specifically also the ankle you have to remember that the ankle and the whole foot unless he doesn't find any other shoes I mean unless he doesn't have anything else to wear and the third type is or the difference of opinion which is shoes which cover the bottom of the foot and the majority of the top of the foot except for certain parts which is the certain bones of the feet which is the the toes and the heels and this one the majority of the إلماء they allow it they say it is allowed because it is more it is closer to not revealing to be revealing revealing the foot then it is to be covering the foot you get it so it is closer to revealing the foot than it is to covering the foot except for the حنفية which say it is not allowed and that's the minority opinion but the majority they say that it is allowed and the point here as well that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in the حديث وليقطع if a person does not find any his sandals then he should wear socks and he should cut underneath the ankle I mean you cut whatever is below the ankle above the ankle you cut that off and you let your ankle be exposed this is now من سوخ this is something that is abrogated even though the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did say it but then when he came to when he came to on the day of عرفة he mentioned that if a person cannot find sandals then he should wear socks and he didn't say he should cut it from this to إلماء they say that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم before he said that he should cut it and now when these different people that he's talking to on the day of عرفة when he's talking to a different group of people he didn't actually mention the cutting therefore they say that this ruling is now من سوخ it is abrogated because they say تأخير البيان عن وقت الحاجة لا يجوز it's not allowed for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to delay delivering the message when it is needed for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to say for you to cut what is above the ankle and the fact that he did not say it shows that it is abrogated so a person now that's the shoes that he wears he wears those sandals


We just wait for the, okay, start. Okay, welcome back after the break. Before we went for our break, we began looking at First Timothy chapter five. We read the entire chapter and then we looked at you know how we could divide this chapter into five sections and we began looking at verses one, two and three, which talks about relationships within the church and we looked at this word rebuke what it really meant in this context. But if you look at the same chapter, verse 20, you know Paul is again talking about rebuke there and you know he tells Timothy there that you know there are times when not only should an elder be rebuked but there are times when he should be rebuked publicly and that is what is mentioned in verse 20 so if you read verse 20 he says those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all that the rest may also fear. So he again mentions that you know not only that an elder should be rebuked but there are times when he should be rebuked publicly therefore in this verse in verse one when he says do not rebuke it does not mean that Timothy was told never to rebuke somebody but or an elder in the church but he's telling him you know don't rebuke in a harsh attacking manner but it's important that you correct people correct them in a loving encouraging way and not in a harsh attacking manner but he then he goes on to say that these older men who is referring about who he needs to rebuke correct them in a in a loving way in a gentle way says but exhort him as a father so basically exhortation or exhorting means to encourage so do all that requires to be done regarding encouraging them do things in a manner that is encouraging you know just like and the idea here of encouraging is how a coach or a trainer you know encourages the athlete that they are training to achieve their best so this is the whole idea or picture the context that is talking about exhortation or exhorting them as a father it's how a coach or a trainer would who is helping an athlete you know to achieve the best how they would encourage them he's saying the same way you know encourage these elders these older people as they are fathers in the house and then he goes and talks about goes on to talk about younger men as brothers you know he says the younger men should be treated as brothers that is you know as someone who is a partner to you as friends in the work of the gospel but at the same time you know even as you treat these younger men in a nice way don't show any difference to the older people or to the adults treat them in the same way as you would treat younger men then he goes on to talk about older women and he says that older women in the body of Christ in the church should be treated as mothers they should be treated with respect and honor due to their age and then he talks about younger women he says these younger women should be treated as sisters and as Timothy you know as a godly man he must make sure that his conduct towards younger women was always pure and above reproach just like he mentions in the preceding verses that we looked at you know live a life of godliness in purity so he's talking about how he needs to treat younger women in his approach to them the way he treats them it should be pure and holy and in verse three he talks about honoring widows who are really widows now at Paul's time and the time that Timothy lived you know there was one class of people or one group of people who were very vulnerable that those were the elderly widows you know and there were usually people who were not able to support themselves because their husbands are no more or they don't have children or their children are not supporting them and taking care of them and they have no means of working to adequately support their their own lives or to support themselves and these kind of widows he is talking other really other widows whom the church has to care for and who have to you know bring them under their care and protection and provide for them so he's saying who are really widows who are really widows are these widows who are elderly widows he goes on to qualify and speak more about this in the in the in the other verses he talks about those who are 60 and about who are real widows who usually don't have any support from their husbands because their husbands are dead or their children have grown up and you know they don't want to take care of them and they have no means of adequately supporting themselves these women are whom the church has to take care of so he's qualifying who these widows are that the church has to take care of because there are younger widows and he talks about them you know and what they need to do and what the church needs to regarding them so in this entire passage that Paul is writing in this in this part of this letter there are four types of four categories of widows that he mentions the first one is the real widows those who don't have any family members to care for them which he talks about in verses three to five and verses nine to ten he also talks about widows who have children and grandchildren who he mentions about in verse four and verse sixteen and then he also talks about another category of widows talking about the younger widows who says you know they should remarry and he talks about them in verses 11 to 15 and then the last category the last type of widows he mentions in this part of his letter in this passage in chapter five is widows who live for pleasure rather than for the Lord who he talks about in verse six okay so we move on to verses four to eight where he's talking about believers responsibility towards their own family and here in this section of his letter Paul is instructing Timothy what must happen in the local church you know regarding taking care of widows he says but if any widow has children or grandchildren let them first learn to show piety at home and repay their parents for this is good and acceptable before God so he says if you know there are widows who have children you know then these children should take their responsibilities is that time to show their love and take responsibility for their you know their parent who is widowed you know the mother who is widowed and take care of them because they have the means of taking care of them of assisting them of helping them and because they have the means you know they should they should not leave them to the responsibility of the church the church can take responsibility for those who are really widows who are really in a need who don't have a family to take care of them so he says the children he's you know talking to children grandchildren who have to rise up to this occasion and address the need of their of their widowed mother or grandmother you know and he says by doing this by taking care of them he's saying this is good and acceptable before God this is what is pleasing to God so this is also something it's the word of God this is something that also applies to us in our context that we need to take care of our elderly parents and if one of them is widowed we need to take care of their needs help them not just dump them in an old age home another care of the church or another care of you know people who are working in old age but it's our responsibility to take care of them because this is good and acceptable before God and we are accountable to God for how we take care of our parents okay and he says you know now she was really a widow now he's talking about like I said really a widow is those who are 60 and about their husband is dead they don't have children to take care of them don't have means to provide for themselves you know these kind of widows you know they are the ones that the church needs to take care of because they're they're just trusting and God and even as the church takes care of them you know they should give themselves up to prayer and supplication that means they should also be involved in the ministry of the church they should be involved in praying for the needs of various church members and in supplication praying for you know different needs and the burdens of the church and different people who are going to different struggles and then he says you know those who but were six but she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives but those widows who you know those who should be legitimately helped by the church must have godly lives and not live life of pleasure okay so if you're requiring help from the church to sustain you to help you as a widow then you have to live a godly life there is some requirement that is needed you have to live a godly life and not live a life of pleasure but then and then he says a person who lives a life of mere pleasure and ease is no life at all the kind of life is living is not a life worth living it's living dead kind of life and and he says this is applicable to anyone whether you're a young widow or anyone else you know don't live a life of pleasure because when you do you know you're not living a godly life you're not living any kind of life that is right that is helpful and it's living a life of death it's living death okay literally living death and he says these things command so Paul is again reminding Timothy that you know as a good pastor as a pastor was appointed as a spiritual overseer it's your responsibility to teach these things so that people will know what god expects of them they will do what god expects them to do okay verse seven it says and these things come on that they may be blameless if we look at this same verse in the message bible it renders as this so that they will do the right thing in their extended family so Paul is saying Timothy teach these things so because people will not know about these things they will think okay you know it's my mother's widow the church is anyway taking care of widows let them let me just go and give them to the responsibility of the church but you know teach them that it's if they have the means to take care of their widows in their own family they should do so and not abandon them or leave them under the care of the church the church can take care of those who are really widows okay verse eight but if anyone does not provide for his own and especially for those of his household he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever so you know god's way or the provision that he's made for providing for the needy is not just through the local congregation but it's also through the family okay so if there's somebody needy in our family you know it's our responsibility that we provide for them it does not mean that you know we just keep on giving them money and food and clothes but also empower them if they are in a place where they can be empowered to earn their own living to do that but get them started off so it's important that you know as believers in the house of god that we just don't think of the church providing for everyone who's needy but we who are capable of earning um taking on responsibility it's important that through our hard work we sustain people who are needy in our own families uh and also you know in doing so we also empower them to work hard and also live their own lives but get them started just help them in their time of need and he says if you don't provide for your own family it means if you don't husbands don't take care of their own wives and their children if of children and grandchildren don't take care of their own parents elderly parents or widowed people in their family if Paul says you know they are worse than an unbeliever and so he uses very strong terms here strong words basically Paul is emphasizing the responsibility of man to provide for his family and to do all that he could do to support them and he says as you do this you know this is good and pleasing to god this is what this honoring god pleasing to him and if you don't do it you know you're worse than an unbeliever so um you know uh look at verse eight it's talking about the responsibility on a believer uh you know a believer uh specifically a man here but in our context we have even women working so you know as as a couple it's our responsibility to provide for our own household but more so for a man because he is in that position that god has called him or ordained him to be the prophet priest and the provider okay any questions so far verses one to verse eight any questions any thoughts any clarifications needed okay today the class seems to be very silent okay uh if we are following and we are getting a lot of information so we are here learning thank you thank you jazz okay yes mangy thank you pastor um pastor just a little clarification um because it says that you should not be given to pleasure life of pleasure so when you say life of pleasure what does he mean because uh as a believer we we can still go on holiday we can still uh go to disneyland have fun you can still uh go racing so can you please clarify uh what what what he means by life of pleasure thank you first um thank you for that question mangy actually he goes on to talk about that in in the proceeding i mean in the uh the verses that following now so i'll explain that and if then you can you know understand it better when i explain it but if you still don't understand it then uh we can come back to a question and address it but here talking about pleasure it's not talking about you know entertainment in the sense that and we we need entertainment to refresh us to refresh our soul and our and our bodies our minds you know so good entertainment is not something that god stops us from it's important for us you know we can you know go on trips visit countries uh go to disneyland and all of those things but it's talking about pleasures which are ungodly you know entertainment that is ungodly which puts in you know effects our minds our thoughts our actions our behavior and leads us into ungodliness and leads us away from the truth and the the truth in the in the word of god and the doctrine and you know comes to a place where we even go away from our faith where our own faith is shift right that is what he's talking about but he explains more in detail in the in the you know the verses that follow and i'll explain that and if you still did not if you still do not answer your question you can get the you know come back mindy and we'll discuss on that is that okay thank you person i i understand thank you okay okay so we look at at verses nine to sixteen he says don't let a widow under 60 years old be taken into the number what he means here is that if someone is under 60 you know they can still support themselves they can still get they can remarry they can have somebody who can help them support them so you know don't add them in the support list of the church but he says here that you know those who are really widows which is 60 and above who can can't really support themselves don't have a family to support them then they can be added to the list of the church yes say thank you pastor i just wanted to confirm that this isn't really a cast on stone approach right uh because uh Paul might be bringing this or giving this instruction or advice in that time whereas we did be that in such a in a case whereby it happens in any of our churches um this can be looked at um uniquely and not just say oh because it said in scripture we have to follow this uh because sometimes it could be that the man who has passed on is actually earning more than what the wife is earning and so my need assistance from the church and yes he's under 60 you know so i'm just wondering is there wisdom in applying this advice from Paul in respect to all the other things we've learned about setting instructions that we're only giving to specific churches around the time of the culture and historical events of that time thank you pastor thank you say for your question so yes actually we can use this as a framework uh to work you know to you know bring about how to administer things in the the present local church but you know when it talks about younger widows you know and he gives reasons why younger widows should marry in this context but we see many of our younger widows in our context in you know in the in the country of the country that i come from that's india you know we see many younger widows they don't they don't get married but they of course have their family who they stay along with who supports them or you know we help them in getting a job they you know are able to sustain themselves because they are educated if they're not educated you know get them into some kind of training where they're able to sustain themselves they're not totally dependent on the church because some of them can even have children you know they'll have to pay their fees and things like that so get the family involved get them you know the person empower them to earn to take care of their own children if they want to remarry that's totally fine with them but most of them in our context they don't i've seen most of them don't some of them now they're opening up to you know getting married it was not some that culture that was followed a few years back so in yeah we need to actually empower the younger widows but specifically talking about older widows there's no point in you know getting them to empower them to work now but the church can support them fun for them and the whole context that paul is writing here is basically the understanding that you know people should not take advantage of what the church is providing okay so he what he's basically saying here is hey because church is taking care of widows don't you know bring all the widows and put them in the list and get the church to do if they have families can support them let them take responsibility because it is what god has called us to do we need to take care of our parents we need to take care of our family because we have the means god has given us the means to do it this is our god given responsibility one of them we need to do it so we also need to speak and teach this in our church but of course if the family disowns them and has nothing to do with them and feels that they're a burden then the church can for a few years you know empower them get them a job get them to take on the responsibility but they cannot totally be dependent on the church and not do anything so we need to look at it in all angles and work it out in all angles and see what works best in our in our basic culture in our environment or in the context that we are living in does that help say it helps pasta thank you thank you yeah why was 60 years taken as a benchmark it was because you know you know people can't work you know when they get 60 they become very old they're not able to work they're not able to care for themselves they need help they need support you know they also just not need a financial support they need emotional support they need also help from others so so basically maybe you know the 60 years is the time but we are this is what just you know people are saying I mean maybe in that context it worked there it can also work in our context because many people retire at that age right and after that you know they really need help and support financially mentally spiritually emotionally yes that helped Kennedy okay so you know so here he says you know don't put the younger widows in the support list of the church versus 9 to 10 Paul elaborates on the conditions of verses 3 to 5 that he has just written about concerning needy widows he says they to be at least 60 years and older they have to have served in the church well if the church has to help them support them they should have served in the church well you know if they serve the church well then they can be taken care of in the church by the church for their needs and we see in verse 16 is that if their family is able to take care of them the family should do so so that they don't become a burden to the church and the church can have those who are elderly widows who are in real need also can be because Paul is being very strict about this because you know we don't see like mega churches in the city of Ephesus you know the whole concept of church was just kind of beginning tithing giving to the church was all areas where there were people were coming to an understanding growing so the church was also not you know very strong financially like we look at some of our churches today in our today's world you know also because they were living in in a time when you know the Romans were ruling and their Romans had you know used to tax people very very heavily in every area of their lives so people were paying huge taxes in every area so when it came to even paying religious taxes they expected it from the churches as well the government wanted taxes from the church so you know the churches were not financially very great and sound so Paul talking about all of these should also be seen in context not in the context that our churches today are very rich we can support you know younger widows older widows so he's being very very specific about details here because there was small churches home churches you know and didn't have great big bank huge fat bank balances or amounts in the church of the church bank accounts to support everybody so he was making you know strict laws and bringing in strict rules who to take care of and who not to take care of and also that people will not make use of the church when they themselves can take on responsibilities okay so he says that you know those who are having a family they should not burden the church so that the church can take care of the elderly widows in real need furthermore he he he he says that the widow must show hospitality to strangers they should have watched the saints feet which is showing a sign of humility as you know like people who have served in church they should also be people who have you know helped people in distress which means you know referring to visiting people who are sick praying for them giving council comfort to those who are troubled and weary so basically the it just sums up to saying this that you know the widow who the church takes care of must have devoted herself to every good work should have been an active part a member in in taking you know an active role in the church so he says these widows in the church will meet these qualifications where to be enlisted in the in the list of widows who the church would take care of and because you know they have already been part of the church they have been helping and you know they can also now serve in various capacities in the church they can serve in terms of prayer and supplications but he talks about younger widows he says you know younger widows paul advises them to remarry and they are to to be a wife of one husband so again the whole concept of one man woman the same qualifications which he lays down for elders and deacons which we read in chapter three versus two and twelve and also here he talks about younger widows you know should also have a good reputation of good works what he mentions it was 10 it also includes that these younger women should be involved in bringing up children it can probably be that you know that this younger widow already has children before they remarry but you know is raising them up in the faith in the world in the ways of the Lord but it also can refer to widows you know or younger widows who care for unwanted offence because in the Roman world you know there were many unwanted children who were left alone you know unattended just to die and some of these corrupt people would take them and sell them off for slavery or prostitution you know get some money out of it but you know godly Christian women you know would take them into their homes especially these widows you know would take them into their home and raise them up as their own children and care for them so this is what he's talking about in this context of when he says you know they should you know she should be someone who's brought up children and if she has large strangers you know she should you know is all saying that you know she has done some things for the work of Christ has helped in the ministry of the church and can be now enlisted in the list of widows that the church cares for and oversees or you know caters for their needs but he says the younger widows he encourages them to get married set up a family instead of wasting their time in idle things and talking about you know unnecessary unwanted things we study that in a little more detail was 11 he says but refused the younger widows so as a general rule you know he he tells Timothy don't add these younger widows to the support list of the local congregation because they generally can provide for themselves or they could be married and you know can be supported and then he says for they have begun to grow wanton against Christ and their desire to marry now this words this phrase grow wanton you know this word is supposed to be derived from to remove and the rain so it's basically a metaphor which is taken from a very pampered horse you know from whose mouth the rain has been removed so that you know there's nothing to check them or confine them so here he's saying that you know like this pampered horse which the rain has been removed from the mouth so that there's nothing to check or confine this horse it just has total freedom he says these younger widows are like that you know they are total totally free now because their husband is dead no one to keep a check and control over them and they're doing things yielding to pleasures that is not right that is not appropriate so in verses 11 to 15 you know he goes on to talk about some things which is not very easy to interpret but some understand that you know these older widows you know have made some kind of pledge to the Lord and to the church that they would remain single for the rest of their life and they would devote the remaining years of their life to serving the Lord and some of these younger widows have also made this pledge looking at the older widows that they have also stated that they don't wish to marry again and you know they would like to spend their entire years of their life serving the Lord but some of them go back on these younger widows some of them have gone back on their pledge and when they go back on their pledge they incur condemnation from the church or disapproval of criticism but Paul is not condemning the natural desire of the younger widows to remarry what is wrong here he's saying is that they're basically breaking the pledge that they have made so this is one point of view how one group of people writers or commentators understand this verse others take it very differently they mean that you know the first faith what he talks about in this verse verse 12 having condemnation because they have cast off their first faith is basically their first faith is talking about the the pledge that they have made the pledge that they have made that they won't remarry and they will serve the local congregation for the rest of their life you know they argue that Paul was addressing an existing problem namely that these younger widows were put on the support list of the church you know we're now having a desire to remarry and their desire to remarry is you know Paul is not condemning it it is okay with them remarry but what the problem is here is there were you know their desire to remarry is to be greater than their faith in Christ so much so greater than their faith in Christ that they're willing to even remarry and unbeliever and that is what he's mentioning as as you know wrong pleasures or ungodly pleasures he's saying it's not wrong to have this pleasure of remarrying but he's saying this younger widows you know they're they're giving in so much of the pleasure of remarrying that it's it's greater than their love for Christ or their faith or their salvation that they have received in Christ Jesus that they are even willing to marry an unbeliever and also you know furthermore you know they're following into a lot of errors of false teachers and you know that and that is actually turning them away from their first faith in Christ because now they have a lot of time they don't have a husband you know they don't have home chores that they you know they have freedom to roam around talk go from place to place house to house you know and as they do this they easily caught up with wrong teachings because they idle they don't have any work to do they don't have anything to do and you know they're turning away they're from their faith in Christ and what they're doing is even as they have slowly turning away from the faith in Christ you know they are promoting false teaching and that is what he's talking about here you know he's saying you know they are going from house to house not only idle but also gossips busy bodies and same things which they ought not to say so what are the things that they are saying this you ought not to say is wrong teaching wrong you know doctrines you know and they're going away from their faith they're promoting false teaching they're madding basis on they're madding based on their sensual desires and not marrying in the Lord and thus Paul is instructing that no the church should not support these kind of women it's best to avoid all of this thing in the church you know which is going to be a hindrance for them if you support them basically it's going to be a hindrance for them then for these younger widows because you know we are giving them the freedom to get into false teachings of false teachers go around spreading all of these false teaching also you know moving them away from the faith not just to false teachers but also their desire to marry outside the faith so he's saying it's best if these younger widows you know is the best if they marry in the Lord it's best if they are devoted to their home duties so they are not idle they're not going home to home they're not listening to all these false teachings and they're sticking away shipwrapping their shipwrecking their own faith and leading others astray and also he says so as to give that give the enemy no occasion for the report so that you know we are not giving room for the enemy to work in their lives best is to do this for these younger widows so now I hope this whole idea of why he's writing this why he's telling younger widows to remarry why he's talking about pleasures has a better understanding and a better context and a meaning for those of you who you know had questions yes mangi thank you pastor you've answered most of my question just question just to add I think if someone someone must have must have asked it I think about it was Sayi the context in which this letter is written or the culture is different from our culture today our culture today for example a six year old can be richer than a 20 year old girl or widow why can is it okay for us or is it relevant for us to apply the same principle or some principle in our churches today because we they are two different world our world is different from their world our world all the people say they have investment they have money and most of them they can support themselves because they have retirement money set aside and it is the younger generation that's our poor that's our suffering in most places that all they do about in in most places so how can we read this and look into our world today and say okay cool that was amazing it is good and what can we do with what well has given us that's my question thank you yes thank you mangi yes I understand that what you're saying you know all the women are in a better position because they have their savings and you know they're getting pension or whatever you know they can support themselves but what about younger women like 20 and above who you know financially are not sound who cannot support themselves well like I said you know bring them to a place where you know they're not dependent on the church for the rest of their lives which makes them you know complacent and lazy and get into a lot of unwanted you know things like you know spending because they're being supported by the church the children are being supported by the church so they know that they have a lot of free time then they can engage in pleasures that are not pleasing to God which is not godly can be led astray from their own faith listening to teachings that are not right will have no sense of responsibility you know but it's important that we bring them to a place where we empower them like I said empowering them you know supporting them to an extent where they you know till we empower them to manage life on their own to get a job to work or even to work in the church where they're paid so that you know most of their needs are met if some of their expenses like children's education is you know is something that they can't meet then the church can meet but they also know that they have a sense of responsibility and you know it's not leaving them idle so that you know Satan can use that you know their idleness in ways that can bring a shift back to their own faith destroy their own faith lead them away from God and indulge in pleasures which is not godly and pleasing so if you look at what's 15 he says for some have already turned the side after satan and was 14 he says you know so that we don't give opportunity to the advisor who to speak reproachfully okay so basically he's talking about satan who's you know you know giving no opportunity to work in our lives to lead us astray so keep them engaged keep them busy so that they're involved in you know working taking care of their home their responsibility their children if they don't have children then what do you do you know best to get these kind of women married again so that you know they have sense of responsibility they have a family it'll also be an emotional and mental support rather than being lonely and you know being just busy body sitting around gossiping talking and doing nothing and wasting away their lives so yes the church has a responsibility but also greater responsibility in empowering them and making sure that they're not left aside to the attack of the evil one which can destroy their faith and can also destroy others connected to them did that help mangy yes first thank you thank you so what I get from your answer that's the big picture is that to help them to empower them to become their own so the best thing they could do is the church can do is to empower them to yeah educate them or help them thank you first yeah because you know when you empower them they become they have they build they're built up in their own self-image their self-value you know and they have their sense of purpose they know their god-given calling and purpose irrespective of what has happened to them very early on in life that you know they are widows that they have not lost everything in life but they have a god-given purpose a god-given identity a god-given calling to identify their god-given purpose identity and calling and to fulfill that because all of us you know whether irrespective of whether we're married unmarried young old widows you know living with our spouses we all have a god-given calling purpose and identity and that is what is more enriching and fulfilling than just you know being married or being a widow or whatever you know fulfilling god's purpose for our life is calling over our life is so much more important than anything else so you know getting them to see that following that pursuing that can empower them you know and also empower the church because they're you know bringing in their expertise they're calling and they're giving to the church which can help the church as a way is that to find Maggie I guess faster thank you so much thank you yes the beer yeah thank you ma'am I just had a comment answer question other it's in acts chapter nine where it talks about the tabitha or darkest the widow when you were explaining the kind of widow that was mentioned right in this chapter I believe this person darkest or tabitha is a person who was very instrumental in the among the widows in the community among the believer widows in the community because she she was she dare she she died and all the widows were like weeping and crying and bringing in all the garments that she made for them and and ultimately you know like Peter K comes there and ministers and she was raised from the dead so I believe that is an example of a widow that is really instrumental in in in a community in a believers or maybe a church setting and my question is also based on the culture that we are living in especially we see a lot of women sometimes separated from their husbands because might be lots of reasons many of them are like the husbands abandon the wives leave the lead the wives with children and to take care maybe the wives are not working and what about them like not I don't know whether in this context when we talk about widows in in our context in our culture are they included like those people who have been you know abandoned like they have maybe there is nothing that they contributed that caused them to be abandoned right so so what can churches you know in these situations will they also be supported right yeah that's my one question thank you Divya so you know church is inclusive of people of all ages across all ages you know from different cultures different society backgrounds social standing and also people you know who are widowed people who are elderly people who are single parents people who have been abandoned by their family because of their faith or you know abandoned by their husband so we have people from different you know different kind of upbringings different kind of cultures and also you know situations that they are facing in life so the church actually caters to people across all of these age groups all of the challenges that they are facing so yes if a person has been abandoned by their husband they have no means they come to the church they you know they share their needs the church can support them again like we said you know for young widows how we can help them out how we can support them empower them you know get them to see that this is not the end of life that God still has a plan and purpose for them and how they can go about fulfilling God's plan and purpose for their lives and how you know the the church is a community believers can pitch in and help that's what the early church did right they sold everything that everyone had they brought everything together and you know they supported those who are in need and things like that so even churches today do that you know they the the groups so life groups so certain families just support this this this person who's abandoned because of their faith their family abandoned them or their husband abandoned them whatever or the children you know abandoned them when their husband is dead now the children are far away you know they have old age homes they have people who care for them support them also you know do their best to speak to people related to them how they can come and support you know like Paul says you know preach and teach these things because you know the family has to support them but if they still don't want to do it then you know the church steps in the pastor steps and see how the church can be involved the people in the church can be involved so even yesterday we were discussing about one person who we know who is you know who's worked hard all of her life retired as a teacher had a stroke now and you know it's depending on lives with her brother and his family they don't want to you know do basic physiotherapy though it was not a major stroke a mild stroke they do physiotherapy she can walk but they don't want to just spend that basic little amount for the physiotherapy they don't they've stopped even people coming from church to visit her so one church member was saying you know i'm going to speak the pastor today and tell him this is a situation the pastor can go and speak and see what can be done to help this person so yes there are situations where we need to step in speak do what we can do to help empower strengthen and see that the person is you know is you know given the grace and the strength and empowerment to continue living their lives and if they need to just go in and help yes thank you thank you ma'am yeah okay we'll before we end class we'll listen to Christopher's question Christopher and then we'll end class if it's okay with the rest of y'all yes Christopher oh yes thank you pastor just uh just to add to that i think you already mentioned this uh you know that there is the uh you know this uh institution of uh old age homes and um i think in some scenarios it it um you know it provides an alternative uh you know when when the children are of this of this widow is is not um is out of the country or you know it is just not it's just not uh not able to provide that level of uh you know service and uh you know tension age old homes can be an alternative uh and you know uh a lot of question denominations have set up these age old age homes where uh you know they have competences uh you know facilities available as well as the uh you know the people there are all you know maybe the same age group and you know they have you know they have common interests and you know if they can they can live uh a life which is uh you know more uh uh you know reasonable and better than you know what what could have could have been provided by my children who you know maybe may not be able to provide that that level of attention yeah I think uh Christopher I would uh you know defer on that because I think you know the parent when it comes to old age uh they're not looking for uh you know um uh a lot of pleasures like you know uh you know traveling or a car or you know uh ipad or something like that they just want uh their family who they loved and cared for all these years just to be with them just to see their faces you just give them basic meals they are very happy with that but taking them and putting them in an old age home where they're away from their loved ones their family give them the best of food it's not going to please them if you put them with people with you know who are this they have the same age or who they can relate to it's not going to make up for their own children their own grandchildren or their you know their family their home that they lived in the home that they built uh built up all these years what makes them feel happy is that they're in their home that they have with their children whatever you know whether it is uh elaborate meal a simple meal they have just food but they're with the family that is what gives them great joy and satisfaction and I would not agree on you know putting them in an old age home uh you know when we have the means to just take care of them uh at home I understand if some of some of them need special care and all of that uh that also can be very very detrimental to their health they don't they don't last long I've seen that in the case of my own family members two of them you know my grandmother was 90 plus and they couldn't take care of her at home anymore and they put her in an old age home and she died in a couple of in a couple of weeks to say uh it was sad and my uncle you know they were just going to shift into old age home because they couldn't take care of him at home because the others were working my cousins were working and he kept saying that throughout the night okay how many more hours before I they break and I have to go to an old age home and you know they kept telling him the number of hours and just by early dawn he passed away you know it's just so heartbreaking for them and I think nothing would you know fill in for their homes and their own family uh you know or just basic meals that they have nothing can take that risk yeah so I wouldn't agree whatever you know do your best to take care of their parents as much as you can do I won't talk about every case but this is and what other people feel this is what I think I know everyone has their own opinions and you can go buy your opinions yeah that's uh left up to how you think and what is feasible for you and comfortable for you and what how much you can do yes so that uh help Christopher yeah yeah right I said that there are always some exceptions so yeah I mean I I think they will be some different different views to that yeah yeah yes thank you yeah okay thank you everyone for the class sorry to vent six minutes beyond time um thank you everyone have a blessed week uh yes mangi want to say something uh uh that's one mistake thank you so much first thank you for questions and answering the questions thank you so much thank you everyone thank you mangi for joining class sir have a blessed week god bless all of you bye thank you faster thank you


It's a bird, it's a plane, it's superhero therapy, written by Paul Daniel Torres. Today we're going to be talking about the benefits of superhero therapy, specifically through the story of Dr. Janina Scarlett, a licensed clinical psychologist who survived Chernobyl radiation and immigrated to the US when she was 12. As a child, she grew up in the Ukraine. When she was three years old, she and her family were exposed to high degrees of radiation from the Chernobyl disaster. Her health had been changed forever by this. Her body is now incredibly sensitive to changes in weather, like rain and changes in radiation, like meteor showers. These leave her extremely ill, in some instances so ill it's life-threatening. When she got to America, she was bullied by other kids for being radioactive. This is when her love affair with superheroes began. As she watched the first X-Men film, she saw how Storm's power was connected to the weather, just like how she was. Storm quickly became her favorite superhero. She saw just as the X-Men, she was a survivor, and like them, she can take control of her destiny instead of being controlled by her past. The reason the superhero genre is so important is that it is based on the fact that we all dream of having powers at one point or another, whether it's super speed to get to school on time or super strength to stand up to the school bully. Because of these desires, we connect to those characters with powers. Since humans are social creatures, they want to be understood and supported, but it's hard to open up to other people, especially when it comes to mental health. Through finding something to connect with, for example, a superhero, we're given that understanding and support, which will hopefully serve as a vehicle for healing. Dr. Scarlett hopes that by connecting to superheroes, it gets rid of the stigma around mental illness. People will stop seeing themselves as mutants and instead see themselves as the heroes they really are. This is the basis of superhero therapy. Dr. Scarlett says it involves using pop culture in evidence-based therapy in order to help people deal with or recover from different mental illnesses. By connecting to their hero, they connect with their core senses and values. Many people feel held back by their circumstances, such as poverty, physical disability, or mental struggles. Sometimes they also have a hard time connecting to things they care about. For example, creative work, family, and friends. This therapy is designed to help people not only better manage their struggles, but to become their own version of a superhero using the skills and abilities they might already have or are able to learn along the way. The therapy is also trans-diagnostic, which means it can be applied to any mental disorder. As well, people don't have to be veteran comic book readers. It can vary from characters like Harry Potter to Rambo. Personally, my favorite superhero is Spider-Man, particularly Peter Parker. Peter is the fruit of his environment, given a strong moral backbone as a child, but constantly bullied, feeling like he wasn't good enough because of the loss of his parents. This is only strengthened by him causing his uncle Ben's death. Spider-Man is plagued by constant anxiety and self-doubt. He's always asking himself if he's good enough or if he can achieve it. He always wonders if he is worthy or good enough to be a hero. Sometimes we don't know if Peter is driven by his inherently good heart, following the example of his uncle Ben or his own guilt. But despite all his self-doubt, despite all his anxiety, he always reminds himself of the countless times he overcame them. So when Push comes to shove, he knows he has to get things done because failure isn't an option. People's lives depend on him. Spidey shows us that it's okay to have self-doubt and anxiety, and that it's possible to not just survive, but to do amazing and spectacular things. In superhero therapy, I might learn that even though I have some of the same issues, I also have some of the same values, bravery, perseverance, and the capacity to do spectacular things. Who's your favorite superhero? Comment below and don't forget to subscribe!


Please welcome him. Hello, everybody. So I'd like to try and answer a question today. I'd like to try and answer this question. What is this machine learning thing anyway? Because it seems like wherever you look, especially in the Python world, you're hearing about machine learning. It's winning at board games. It's driving cars. It's telling you whether a transaction on your website is likely to be fraudulent. But what is it? A lot of the introductions on this kind of take one of two routes. The first route is that they look a bit like this. Reading code examples without context can be kind of helpful if you're trying to pick up a new library for a familiar task. But if you're trying to get into a whole new area of development and you don't know what's going on behind the scenes, then this can be kind of difficult to grok. So let's look at some stuff behind the scenes. That tends to look more like this. Again, in the right context, that's fine. If you're from a math background, then this might be a language that you speak. You might be able to understand this, but if you're not from a math background, then this is just hiding some fairly simple ideas behind some unfamiliar and relatively complex notation. So we're going to try and take the middle ground here. We're going to try and not really get into implementation. We'll do the ideas behind the implementation, but without all of this math. And the goal is that you'll be comfortable enough with the landmarks of the machine learning environment that you'll be able to kind of go away and explore further and raise billions of dollars of VC money. So the first question we need to answer is what can machine learning do for us? If we're going to understand what this thing is and how it works, we should understand what its goals are, what it's aiming for. So here's a programming problem that I tried to solve recently. I needed to read some recipes from the web, and I was particularly interested in understanding the ingredients. I wanted to know three things about each ingredient. I wanted to know the quantity, what unit of measure was used for that quantity, and the name of the ingredient. And the first two recipes I looked at, all of the ingredients were structured exactly like this. It was a number, then a word describing the unit of measure, and then the name of the ingredient. And I thought, this is a string processing problem. I'll just split on white space. It'll be fine. And then I looked at a third recipe and thought, oh, maybe I need a regular expression. And then I looked at another recipe and thought, maybe I need two regular expressions. And I ended up with a list of things like this. And I had to throw out my hands and admit, I don't know what the rules are to parse these things. Think about what you do when you're programming. You're writing a very specific list of instructions that the computer is going to follow. And we use all these nice abstractions, like objects and functions, to make it seem like it's all these high-level ideas. But really, it's a linear list of things that the computer is going to do one after another. You're making decisions and writing them down, and the computer is just playing those decisions back. That's great if you know what you're doing. But with this list of ingredients, I didn't know what I was doing. I knew there was some relationship between this text and the information I wanted, but I couldn't describe that relationship in enough detail to write software to extract that information for me. So I was a bit stuck. What I needed was generalization. Generalization is the killer feature of machine learning. This is why it's useful and why it's interesting. It's the ability to take input that we didn't explicitly consider when we were designing our system and do something useful with it. So there were too many different ways of writing a description of an ingredient for me to consider all of them. So I needed this property of generalization. I needed the program to be able to handle an ingredient description that I hadn't even considered when I was writing the program, and do the right thing. That sounds really hard. I've just said that when we're writing programs, we're writing a very explicit list of instructions for a computer to follow. And now I'm saying that we want that computer, while following those explicit instructions, to come up with seemingly new ideas for itself, to generalize to things that we didn't personally consider while developing the software. That seems almost contradictory. But fortunately, you've probably built generalizing systems before. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of people in this room have built at least one. Maybe not with software, maybe not as a programmer, but at some point in your life. Remember that point in high school science class where your teacher said, pay attention. This is going to be useful later on? Sorry, they weren't lying. It was actually true. High school science experiments bear a striking similarity to machine learning systems. So we're going to do a high school science experiment together now, and then we're going to talk about how that relates to building a machine learning system, and hopefully make this whole machine learning thing seem a lot less magical. In order to do this experiment, I've brought with me a piece of finely tuned, highly calibrated science equipment. I'm not a physicist, so I might be getting the terminology wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is what scientists call a tennis ball. All right, one of the properties that this tennis ball has is if I drop it, it's going to bounce. And what we'd like to do in this experiment is understand the relationship between the height of the drop and the height of the bounce. So if I drop it low down, it's a small bounce. If I drop it high up, it's a large bounce.  So what's the first thing we do in a high school science experiment? It's empirical observation. We want to collect data. So that, in this case, involves just dropping a tennis ball a whole bunch of times and measuring the height that we drop it from, measuring how high it bounces, and just building a table of data. I'm going to put this down before it rolls off the stage. Once we've collected our data, we can take a look at it. So here's a scatterplot of tennis ball drop height versus bounce height. So along the horizontal axis, we have the height of the drop, and on the vertical axis, we have the height of the bounce. And it seems like these things are arranged in roughly a straight line, which is nice. I was always taught in my high school science class that when things were arranged in a straight line, we should draw a line on the chart. But what they didn't tell me was that really what we were doing there is building a mathematical model. It seems like kind of pretty fancy language for drawing a line on a chart. But let's draw the line, and let's explore that a little bit and talk about why I think this is a mathematical model. So here's a line. It's not a very good line. It's not very close to the data. But I can move it around. I can make it a little closer. What's this line doing for us? I mean, it kind of emphasizes that the points we observed are pretty much in a straight line. So it's easier to spot that that's happening, I guess. But the real value of this line is that it fills in the gaps in our data. So we dropped the ball from 1 meter and 2 meters and 3 meters. We didn't drop it from 1 and 1 half. But the line passes through 1 and 1 half. The line has generalized two drop heights that we didn't consider when we were designing this experiment. We built a generalizing system that was maybe slightly easier than you were thinking when I showed you that list of ingredients. So what is a line when you want to think about it mathematically? Well, you need to know two things to draw a line. One thing is a fixed point. You need to know a fixed point that the line passes through. And traditionally, we use where it crosses the vertical axis there. So in terms of our experiment, that's the height that the ball would bounce to if dropped from a height of 0 meters. And if we move that around, we change the line. We're drawing different lines. But I suspect that the real value is going to be around 0. We can test that using science. If I drop the ball from 0 meters, yep. Bounce height was 0. It's good to know. But the other number that we need to know for drawing a line is the angle of the line, what's called a gradient, the steepness of the slope. And as I change that, we can draw a whole bunch of different lines. But in order for this to be a model for our data, we want a line that is close to the observations that we made. What we want is that our model agrees with our observations. And if that's true, if that's happening, if we found a line that agrees with our observations and we know those two numbers, we know where it crosses the vertical axis and we know the angle, we can now start to make predictions. So here's some Python code. At last, you're thinking, I thought this talk was all going to be high school science and no Python. Here's some Python code that can make predictions of bounce heights based on drop heights. So we start with that intercept value. That's what the bounce height would be if the drop height was zero. And then we add the drop height multiplied by some number. And that predicts our bounce height. But I've kind of cheated here. I've said we've built a generalizing system. But I still used human judgment. I did it by eye. I just looked at the chart and went, oh, yeah, that line seems fine. We'll use that one. How do we know that our observations fit with the model? I said they agreed because it looked like they did, which is fine if we're drawing a line on a chart by hand, but isn't really that helpful if we're trying to automate this and build it in a computer system. We can measure how well the model fits the observations. So in this version of the chart, I've added these red lines, which measure the distance between what the model is predicting and the observation that we made. So this line is pretty bad. Those red bars are really big. And you see this error number at the bottom of the slide that's changing as I move the line around. What I've done there is I've taken the height of those error bars. I've squared them to make sure they're all positive numbers. And then I've taken the average of them. So now that we have a measure of how closely our model fits our observations, we can make sure that we've got those two parameters right. We can make sure that the intercept parameter and the gradient parameter are the right ones, the ones that fit our data well. Even doing it by eye, a lot of these look similar to me, but the numbers are telling me that this one seems to be the best for changing the gradient. When we talk about learning in machine learning, often that refers to learning the parameters of a model. So the parameters of our line are the gradient and the intercept. And the learning process involves starting somewhere random and taking small steps. So we might say, what happens if we go this way? Oh, the error number gets larger, so we should go the other way. And we take small steps, continue taking small steps until the error number starts going up again. And we realize we've gone too far and we go back. This is one of the central ideas of machine learning, that you can train a mathematical model by finding values for the parameters of that model so that the model agrees with the observations that we've made in the real world. So we've built a model and we've checked that it fits quite closely with the observations that we made, but I made another claim. I claimed that this already generalizes. How do we know? How do we know for sure that it generalizes? Well, to figure that out, we need to go back to our scientific equipment and back to empirical observation. Our model was saying that if I drop this tennis ball from about a meter, which is probably about here-ish, maybe it's going to bounce to about three quarters of a meter, probably about there, the model seems about right. If this were a real world situation, we would test more carefully than that and with many more examples than just the one. But we can test if the model generalizes by making more observations, observations we didn't use to build the model in the first place and find out if the model really can produce good predictions. So high school science or machine learning, which was this? Well, when we're building a machine learning system, we need to collect examples. When I was building that recipe system, I needed to collect examples of ingredients. When we were building a model for the bounce height of a ball, we had to collect examples of how high a ball bounces. We have to choose a model. Now, in the case of the bouncing tennis ball, choosing a model is quite easy. You have one input number and one output number. You can put them on a scatterplot and you can see a straight line and go, oh, it's a straight line. That's great. I'll draw a straight line. That should be my model. In the real world, it can be somewhat harder. You're often dealing with many inputs, maybe even many outputs. So what can you do? Well, with the recipe model, I did two things. Firstly, I leaned on other people's experience. There were people who had developed mathematical models and software libraries for those mathematical models which I could use. And the second thing is that you can compare different models. You can try a few different things and compare their performance and see which one works for you. Then we train the model. We find the parameters that make the model's predictions fit with the observations that we've made of the world. In the case of a straight line, again, there are two parameters. There's the slope and the intercept. In a modern neural network model, there might be many hundreds, maybe even many thousands of parameters that the training algorithm has to find. But the process is very similar. The process of finding the parameters which minimize the difference between what our model predicts and what we've observed in the world is very similar, even on a large-scale complex model. Even if you were training something to recognize faces, it's important to test the model. We don't want to deploy something to production, expecting it to generalize if we don't know that it's going to actually generalize. Normally, when you're building a machine learning system, in the initial data collection phase, you will separate some of your data. You'll put it off to one side and just save that for testing later. It's important that it isn't the data that you use to build the model, because in that case, you're just checking again that your model is close to your observations. You need to check that it generalizes with data that wasn't used to build it. And finally, we can make predictions. We can predict how high a tennis ball is going to bounce. I don't know why you'd want to do that, but you now can. Or we could figure out which bits of a sentence map to the quantity and unit and nail of ingredients in a recipe. I keep using this word predictions, which seems to make more sense in the context of bouncing the tennis ball and maybe less sense in the context of picking bits of a sentence that map to parts of an ingredient. I like the word prediction, because it emphasizes that this is an educated guess coming from a model. You want to build a model that can guess well enough for the thing that you're trying to do, but it isn't necessarily going to be 100% accurate all of the time. Hopefully, this seems less scary than the first two slides I showed you than the mathematical notation or the incomprehensible Python code with the magic. And if I've encouraged you to explore machine learning further than what's next, where should you get? Well, there are two directions I could recommend. One, if you want to get more into implementation, there is a website called fast.ai. They have a large online course, which is designed for developers. There isn't a lot of mathematical prerequisite here. What they require is that you know some Python. The other thing I could recommend, if you want to get more into the mathematical side and more into the models and understanding what's going on behind them is this book. Even if you don't have a whole ton of math, every time there's an equation in this book, they will give a worked example from real data, which helps you check your understanding of the equations. And that's it. If you have any questions, you can contact me online. I'm George Brock, everywhere from Twitter to GitHub to the IRC channel for this conference. You can find the slides of that link. My email address is georgeatthoughtbot.com. I should mention that Thoughtbot is a consultancy, and so if you want to talk to me about that, you can. And also, I have awesome robot stickers. Thanks very much. Thank you, George.


From the time that HIV was first discovered to be the virus that causes AIDS back in 1983 scientists have been working on developing a vaccine Here we are more than 30 years later. So why don't we have a vaccine yet? Oh, and by the way, what is a vaccine and how does it work to prevent an infectious disease? Unlike antiviral medicines used to treat infections vaccines work by training a person's immune system before exposure to a virus so that the immune system can fight off the virus and prevent that person from becoming infected HIV presents some unique challenges to developing a vaccine First HIV attacks the very immune cells that are sent by the body to kill it off and inserts its genes into these cells After that happens the only way to get rid of HIV is to kill off the infected cells That leads to the second challenge, which is that HIV infected cells can hide out and remain dormant or asleep Making it difficult or impossible for other killer immune cells to find it Thirdly, every time HIV reproduces it makes a lot of genetic mistakes and unlike many living things Including humans that have certain systems in place to correct these mistakes HIV is a sloppy virus that doesn't fix itself So HIV changes over time and it has been difficult to find a vaccine that will protect against all of these changes So how do we propose to build a vaccine? First you should know that there is never any live or killed HIV in a vaccine Which is a strategy used by some other vaccines against less dangerous viruses Also, no one participating in a vaccine study is ever exposed to HIV as part of the study Now that we have that out of the way The goal of an ideal HIV vaccine is to activate both antibodies and T cells So that the immune system is ready to fight off HIV Antibodies are proteins that attach to HIV before HIV can infect a cell thereby preventing infection an example of how this works is the polio vaccine After you get a polio vaccine you develop antibodies against polio that are ready to attack if you ever come in contact with the polio virus We'd like to develop an HIV vaccine that develops antibodies that would attack the many strains of HIV that exist Another strategy is to train T cells to recognize and fight off HIV So that when HIV enters the T cells could kill the virus All HIV vaccines are made with synthetic manufactured Imitations of parts of HIV a strategy that can never cause infection but can train the immune system to fight off HIV The most successful HIV vaccine strategy so far is a combination of two HIV vaccines tested in Thailand That prevented 31 percent of new infections This vaccine isn't licensed but scientists are using information from this study to make more powerful and long-lasting vaccines That can be used for populations around the world One thing to know is that the most common way to diagnose actual HIV infection is to test for HIV antibodies A person who becomes HIV infected generates antibodies against HIV But because they are only developed weeks after infection they can't prevent infection These antibodies can keep HIV in check for a while But eventually HIV comes out of hiding and causes AIDS Unless a person is treated with antiretrovirals HIV medicines Measuring HIV antibodies is a relatively cheap and easy way to test whether someone has been HIV infected But the test doesn't usually turn positive until several weeks or several months after infection Because that's the length of time it takes to develop antibodies without a vaccine Some people who get a vaccine will also be antibody positive because they have vaccine induced antibodies Also called visp vaccine induced seropositivity Other tests can be done to tell the difference between visp and actual infection These other tests are available at all research sites that conduct HIV vaccine trials And HIV vaccine trial volunteers can continue to get HIV testing for free at these sites Even after the study has ended Over 35 million people worldwide are currently living with HIV AIDS Fortunately, we're part of the way toward developing a safe and highly effective HIV vaccine And with a committed and diverse partnership of community members, scientists, educators, and policymakers We could ultimately defeat our century's biggest epidemic This video has been produced by Eureka Science in collaboration with Bridge HIV Just in touch with Eureka Science, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our YouTube channel Or visit us at EurekaScience.org Thank you for watching