What happened? Thousands of viewers here. I don't know my internet just disconnected completely Everything is connected here. I have a cable as well. You can see it, but everything should be stable. However This time internet I have true as a provider and it has been horrible So yeah, I'm currently just disconnected and it took it a good five minutes to reconnect now So now slowly but surely people are tuning back in so guys We're gonna use this stream in case you're watching this offline to answer your super chats now So let's split them apart like that We said pretty much all we want to say in the first stream and this is gonna be now the Q&A session This will have to do We're gonna wait for some people to tune back in we have 140 people back in okay I checked the comments I because I opened the streamer like what's going on somebody commented they're like oh man this stream ended It was a good topic The time ran out it's over now We have to call it now. Now. We're still back. So I hope people will see this as well They will see that we're still online We're over here. Yep. Yep. Let me just bring back the super chats and And Dale if you saw any questions that you find personally interesting and you want to answer let me know as well, right? I had no time to go through the chat, but if there's anything that you want to answer you can do that as well So now let me go back to the super chats. Where was I? You can open live chat from old streams right or does that take a while to I Mean for you now if you open up the old Livestream yeah, then you could read them there Jones novice donate three euros. Thank you very much says Masha Allah Bobby. Hey, hey, hey, Masha Allah I am learning and donated. I think that is Malaysian Rupiah maybe 15. Thank you very much says Daniel You can also ask Allah anything in English during Sujood inside of your heart not out loud in long Sujood Have you tried it? Yes, I have This is powerful. Yeah, it's very humbling. It's it's it's There's a really good hadith I think on the on Sujood like oh when you're in Sujood This is when you're closest to Allah And I feel this to be true is see you completely Submit you completely humble yourself face on the ground and you ask Allah for For whatever it is. Yeah, you can for anybody that doesn't know you can make door You can pray to Allah. You don't have to do do and Arabic can be in your native language because Allah also understands any language I See here man Bobby you just missed a hundred dollar donation from the previous Livestream Please mod notify Bobby because there's probably a question as well Guys, I'm answering all the superchats and all the streamer's donations. They are separate here I have a secondary window. They're not attached to one stream in particular. I can see even streams from two weeks ago So yeah, God willing we will see that chat as well If it has been submitted. Thank you very much Okay, let's keep going But on that note, yeah, of course, I mean I wouldn't know how else to pray to God, right? Reciting the surahs is one thing but praying to God asking him something I would have to do my native language as well. How else would I do it? I still cannot speak fluently Arabic Google translate in between type it in first and press play Okay, wait a second, let me go further down Yeah, one second guys We have Amir Hamza donated five dollars. Thank you very much says two beautiful brothers, Alhamdulillah Thank you very much. I appreciate that There's a question to me By Yasmine What is your wife thinking about Islam now Bobby? I actually her perspective has changed quite a bit So she was I wouldn't say necessarily anti Islam But when she became religious and she's Christian for her it was as well this us against them mentality and more over She listened to many Islamophobes Like David Woods or AP or whatnot for a while It's my fault because I listened to them and like that She started believing what they say, of course and started questioning the character of prophet Muhammad may peace be upon him and Ultimately, she came to believe that Islam is yeah, this misogynistic sexes bad religion is not as Enlightened as Christianity because we have Jesus, etc. Etc. But nowadays it changed a lot She says that since I am doing so much research and since I started going to the mosque as well Which I do every Friday now by the way, even though I still haven't converted It's weird this thing. I know She said that she started seeing this pure monotheism Which is absolutely unbelievable and she appreciates it as well. We see some progress there as well. That is good That's right. So yes, man. Well, yes me another super chat. Thank you very much Islam is the right path and peace for every living thing every creation in the universe I'm praying for you to find the right path Bobby. It is quite interesting, especially if you Translate Islam we talked about this meaning submission the Quran describes as well that everything is in submission to its creator Right. So every living being does exactly what they're supposed to do It's just us and we can rebel ultimately and go against the will of God and like that come out of submission There's something that I realized as well again glory to God But I was thinking that there is only submission to God or rebellion. There's literally nothing else There's nothing in between those are the two modes and I would even say that it goes back to Iblis The first rebel he rebelled against God even though he was the closest to God, right? He was there praying with the other angels So he was as close as it can be however He chose rebellion against God and this kind of trickles down into every day life. There is nothing else But submission or rebellion and no matter how small that act of rebellion is it is still rebellion in the end And we'll bring you into suffering Emptying the cup donated five Canadian dollars. Thank you very much Says Bobby in Islam traditionally self-loved is called hoop el nefs Which is understood as a spiritual disease and demonic. I didn't know that No, I didn't know that but I am familiar with this teaching from orthodoxy and I know in orthodoxy a lot of the fathers taught that So Love is a very bad thing The orthodox get very extreme with that as well.  They constantly remind themselves. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner And it's almost like Seems magic masochistic like self What sort yeah masochistic Self-destructive. Yeah, I understand this is something that I couldn't resonate with I first thought yet again that this only found within Catholicism because in Catholicism you have this long history of monks flocking themselves right punishing their flesh And I thought this guilt trip ultimately is only found within Catholicism, but it's not the case at all so it is a practice as well of For the lack of better words guilt tripping yourself and reminding yourself how bad and how evil you are and That's only through God's forgiveness. You can let go of this dirty dirty flesh, buddy in a sense That is partially true. It is partially true and like even in Islam like It's said that I think this is Quran when even when you prick your thumb with a thorn Like any amount of pain that you receive That is Admonishment it's you're being relieved of this and a lot a lot does this for us Hmm, so there is some truth to that and I think that's probably why they've been led to do that but I think they've taken it in a The incorrect way where it's like if you inflict pain upon yourself, that's gonna somehow relieve Your sin it doesn't really make sense No, because is that really is it is that really what God put us here to do to sit to sit on earth and torture ourselves? No, I don't think so. No, it doesn't make sense. That is some of it reminds me of I Don't know if I can say it here on YouTube Whatever suicide because yes, everybody will taste death, but you shouldn't end your life yourself, right? So therefore if God alleviates sins through suffering should you really inflict that suffering upon you? Will that then invoke the mercy of God as very questionable, right? I heard I think it's an idea as well that If you have a fever or something this is you sweating sins out as well So through sickness, for example, you're getting rid of sins, but this is not you making yourself sick in order to sweat something out So either God decided you're sick or you're not Anyways, let's continue Thank you very much for the superchats guys Emptying the cup donut again 10 Canadian dollars. Thank you very much says the third video request Ricola existence of God our existence Evolution and what we know Sheikh Omar Farouk Abdullah. Okay, I'm gonna save those videos guys. Thank you very much for your recommendations every single time you donate here I'm saving all the videos and yes, I will react to them as well It just takes time because my playlist is endless at the moment. Thank you very much Thank you Abdullah Eunice for $20 through super chat. No question attached.  I think it was my heart that was won over first to be totally honest by reading the Quran and Then it was later in my mind and I saw how rational it is But at first for me reading the Quran it was about this pure monotheism that I found within So therefore I would definitely say that yes, absolutely my heart is open to Islam as well just as my mind But you said in the end Allah implies a strong belief that Allah won't ever fool anyone who submits to him Yeah, I wasn't expecting God to fool me Thank you very much for the donation Life donated 40 rupee. I think brother. Can you react to Quran? So to Quran sura recitations guys. I said this before I would love to however There is this specific channel called salam network and what they do is they copyright strike all my videos when I React to Quran recitations, which is absolutely outrageous The reason why I don't want to do that is not only because of the copyright strike It is because I had certain strikes on my channel and every time they do that They're essentially shadow betting my channel So I cannot allow myself to get strike after strike after strike after strike and that's what happens when you react to Quran recitations Unfortunately, I already contacted salam network. They are not responding. I went over the legal team of YouTube They said that they dropped everything. They cannot do anything about it. So I don't know how they did it, but they Got a copyright claim for every Quran recitation or at least 99% of them on YouTube It's absolutely they've copyrighted the they've copyrighted the Quran They copyrighted this God sees everything right. So I enjoy up to them if they think that's a good idea to do them have fun It's crazy, especially because from other channels. So other channels reciting the Quran Copyright, right? It's unbelievable Okay a donated 50 What that is I think it's something Turkish I had doubts before because I couldn't marry a non-Muslim like my brothers can I understand now How will a non-Muslim man lead me when he doesn't worship Allah? So this apparently a woman posting this here and she was kind of skeptical about the religion I assume that she wasn't allowed to marry anybody that is a non-Muslim, but now she understands it because Otherwise he wouldn't worship Allah. So how could she follow him? Yeah, it's true. It's it's good for you things that are Halal are good for you and things that are wrong There was no cure in those things things that are forbidden is No cure there Makes sense. Now we talked about this briefly on the live stream already ultimately. I Mean what else is there? Do you want to have an atheist as a husband? Do you want to have a pagan as a husband? What else is really there, right? Right, so it makes only sense Abdullah donated two dollars again. Thank you very much. He says Daniel on behalf of the Uma tell Bobby to stop procrastinating and accept the truth With his knowledge, he has no excuses as John mentioned John is a person that we had the live stream with John Fontaine and he put me on the spot and he said I have to take Shahada now because it's unacceptable With so much knowledge to still not submit All right, I like John I like this As approach as well, but the same time I said before I wouldn't take Shahada on a live stream and Moreover guidance is to God alone. So therefore when the time comes the time comes, right? Do you do you want to talk about where you're at right now? Yeah, I can talk about it. I mean, it's not really a secret to be totally honest. I am Yeah, I'm basically at a point where I got pretty much all of my questions answered and Now I'm in the face where as I said, I'm going to the mosque every Friday So as dumb again is that might sound but I'm kind of giving myself like an Islam trial, right? I'm literally doing everything that a Muslim would do. I even pray five times per day guys, by the way, right? I can recite a fatty high as well So yeah, I'm doing all of those things. So basically I'm in my trial periods But however, I mentioned that before here on the live stream as well I gave myself a deadline and it is way before Ramadan this year and I said it here already So before that I will either convert or will stop making YouTube videos. So you decide Which is more likely Yeah, that's why I'm at right you guys you guys feel like Bobby is procrastinating make do our for Bobby That's right Now we have another Thank you very much Abdullah. By the way, Jonah Meyer donated two dollars. Thank you very much. It says mashallah. Mashallah Mashallah donate again two dollars and says who is the Orthodox Christian who became a Muslim? It's yeah, like so It's all it's Daniel It's not only me. There's there's that video the priest Yeah, man, that was crazy to me. I have to say that was wild because I Understand it from my own perspective obviously Coming from orthodox Christianity how we can get interested in Islam and how we can accept it as the truth However, somebody that was in the church for I believe 16 years That was mind-blowing to me. That was really mind-blowing to me that he would actually open his eyes to Islam after Working in the church preaching the gospel if you will in the church for 16 years, I forgot to mention this but Shortly before I like fell out of the church I was kind of faced with this crossroads where my priest I was studying with with the With my priest who is teaching The young men that were studying to become priests and I was studying with them online and my priest one day he he said he said hey Daniel, why don't you move to Phuket and In Phuket they have a Monastery school you can study there to become a priest. Oh, wow He was encouraging me to do this and I really considered it I was heavily considering it and I Ended up not I ended up not doing it and that like it was it was a crossroads for me It was like, okay, do am I in this or not because if I'm in this I'm gonna go become a priest right now And if I'm not I'm gonna walk away, and I trust to walk away so I Can relate to that when I went to our toes I was thinking about becoming a monk and I pray to God as well I said if this is my path, then I'm gonna stay here at that time She was my girlfriend, which is now my wife, but we're together and we didn't see each other for a while because of The virus and so I went to our toes and during that time there I pray to God and I said if this is my path, I'm gonna stay here and our toes mind you You know, it's only men. There's no woman on that island. So you would have to Decide to never see a woman in your life again Never get married never have children and just live this monastic lifestyle and I was willing to do that for God as well So if this is my path, then I'm gonna stay here, but ultimately in the end it wasn't so this wasn't my path This is why I find it's so fascinating that for him it was a path of 16 years Before it came to an end.  I think there's similarities between the two, you know, sure Sure same same roots. So it's just but the differences are are there and they make a big difference for sure Yeah, the critique that he must have faced is definitely beyond a little bit of YouTube I shared that with a buddy of mine.    If he was a priest still you wouldn't say that about him, but he said like how could you I? Said I said check out this guy that his priests that reverted to Islam He said, how can you revert to a religion that? When your original religion proceeds that really or something like that, I don't know I think I understand what I meant. I don't I don't think he understood what I mean What he didn't understand what I meant by saying revert, which Yeah Muslims say revert because we believe that everyone's born a Muslim everyone's born a monotheist Right Now it's just if you look at them in this abstract fashion of okay first Judaism then Christianity then Islam Right in that lineage of Abrahamic faiths not understanding the core message Of course that we're talking about the submission to God. So therefore transcendent of a religious concept That falls in that in those footsteps, but rather was there from the beginning of time, right? That's the Islamic claim that it started with Adam, right? Yeah, right Have you heard that this priest now is on his pilgrimage to Mecca? But oh, wow, but he's walking From Russia. He's walking and he says his phone with him and you already made I don't know how many million steps But he's Walking to Mecca by foot That's a movie man. Yeah, it is a movie. Yeah Wow Blast him Okay, let me continue where we had We have so many more one second By Hamza Khan 10 Canadian dollars. Thank you very much Let's thank God for the best of times and even when we have hardship No one else is worthy of worship God in the Quran tells us how to address people of the book with most kindness and understanding Yeah, that is correct. That's something that people on YouTube having debates should always remember Yeah Yeah, I don't mind myself of this too Even though I have to say that the Muslim side is definitely much more respectful than the Christian side Christian quote-unquote if I see the Christian apologetics Right eating Quran's I don't know if you ever saw that David would eating a Quran Absolutely repulsive litter literally eating it literally eating it. Yes. Yes Yeah, he was ripping our pages God forbid and he was eating it. I just approve a point, whichever point that may be There's gonna be some joke about communion there, but I can't Beer is donated 369 Emirates dollars, I think Thank you very much for the very generous donation. No question attached. Thank you very much a beer Philip donated two euros. Thank you very much Philip No question attached either Sean Ben David donated five dollars and This life of the world is only amusement and play Verily the home of the hereafter that is life indeed if they but knew Yes Powerful It really comes down to the translation if you don't speak Arabic because I've seen the translations that they don't really encompass a depth You know, and then you read another one. For example, I had a Translation, I don't know which to write was but was speaking about the pattern of Allah is never changing and Just by that description I found it's so powerful Then you have another translation that says the way of Allah is never changing, which is beautiful as well But there's the patron of Allah, you know, I could just send something in this the fabric of the universe There's this pattern like changing like it's amazing the Maddox in some way. Yeah. Yeah, exactly amazing Hamza Khan don't it again 20 Canadian dollars. Thank you very much my friend Bobby only accept Islam when you feel it is the time if God guides you Even God told Muhammad a piece be upon him that he could not guide his beloved uncle Abu Talib Who died a non-Muslim God knows best and guides who he wills only as that is correct It's a lesson to be learned of course that even his uncle from what I heard is that he actually believed in Muhammad s the prophet but he never accepted Islam So Muhammad couldn't make his own uncle Submit to the will of the Creator if it's not meant for him And this too, this is a related in Quran Allah tells us to give Dawah in Sport, this is the translation. I read it. It's like a do it in in sports Like don't take it too seriously because these people you're speaking to people that don't understand so don't and I this was amazing for me to read because I I Like trying to get it into people's head sometimes like yeah, it's really simple don't you see but they don't they don't understand And then but if you if you take it too seriously it can like hurt it can hurt you it hurts When you when you try to explain to somebody and then you see it's they just don't get it But Allah tells us this don't take it too serious do it But don't take it too serious because they really don't understand Yeah, makes total sense. I think if you remind yourself that again, it is God who guides then you are not going to be too Too serious not the word that I want to use but yeah, not too pushy about it Yeah Well, it's really with everything. I mean, this is why I picked it You know for example why a lot of the Muslim Fighters are doing so well and have done so well. I mean even in history like Because they believe God everything's already destined. It's all it's all done. And if you lose, okay, that's what God wants That's what God wills and if you win, that's what God will so they're like not nervous Where other guys are like they get in there and they're like, oh my god If I lose this is what it that's gonna be bad if I win that's gonna be so good And everyone's gonna love me and they have way way more thoughts Yeah, and way more nervous than these Muslim fighters that that actually practice, you know They they have complete faith and trust in Allah they submit.  You're distracted. You're completely distracted from what you need to do which is to go in there and Sort of we sort of execute a plan unemotionally That's really how you how you win fights as you execute the original plan without straying from it And so Islam helps makes us a lot helps amazing Said Ali donated 50. I think emirate dollars as well. Thank you very much Hi Bobby. I understand your position on meditation and Sufism. I don't think I really made my Position clear necessarily, but anyways the important part here is that any addition to the religious practices is a biddah So biddah meaning innovation. I Am very intrigued by the writings of people such as even a rabbi or even a rizali Rumi etc. Etc. I find a lot of wisdom in that People that say that Sufism is an invention Listen, I cannot speak on it because I'm not a scholar I speak out of ignorance and I'm the first one to admit that right the only statement that I can give is that Every school that I looked into so far always makes the same claim and they all make the claim that they are the original school of thought Right. So if you look at the Salafis, for example, they're very prominent at the moment Especially on YouTube and it appears as if they are following the Salaf So they are following the first three generations. They're following the teaching as close as it can be nothing is Edit to the pure monotheism of Islam. That's how it is presented But at the same time if you look into the Salafi movement, you will see that it came about way way way later Sufism on the other hand can be really Backtracked to the time of the Prophet as well right and Therefore if you go to Africa for example yet again my wife is from Senegal There was a YouTube. I don't know if you know this channel. It's called. Let's talk religion Very interesting channel a good channel and he makes a lot of interesting documentaries about Islam His master thesis thesis. I think he called it on philosophy and religion in his studies was on Sufi Islam So he went to Senegal actually and talked to the Sufis over there and he said so you're Sufi, right? And they didn't even know what he was talking about So they asked him. What are you really talking about? How are you distinguishing us? We are Muslim So then he started talking about the Salafi practice and he said okay, so what do the Salafis believe and The YouTube I told him the Salafis believe that they follow the Prophet Muhammad and the closest companions So the Sufi master said them. Oh, well, that's what we believe. So then I'm a Salaf as well. I guess You know So my point of the story is simply that no matter which school you look into the claim will be of course Always the same that they are following the purest form of Islam. And this is why I am not opposed to Sufism Even though nowadays people that take the Salafi stand will say that Sufism was a bidder. So I'm not Convade just yet. I'm doing my research You know, I saw I think the Qeernaik Maybe it was recently posted a video somebody asked him, you know, one of those big events they asked them Hey, the Qeernaik. Why? Why Why do Sunni thinks badly about Shia something like that? Okay, and the Qeernaik's answer was like brother. There is no he held the Quran. There is no Sunni There is no Shia in the Quran This doesn't exist. It's your Muslim or you're not Muslim, right? You have Quran you have Hadith. Yeah And that's exactly what impressed me so much about reading the Quran was so refreshing because I Saw it with an orthodoxy with a lot of converts to orthodoxy as well that they started worshiping orthodoxy as their God It was all about the religion how you practice this and that. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, this is my God ultimately not admitting it of course They couldn't see other Faiths such as Islam not even as brothers that are believers at least they simply saw that as something Anti-Christian the anti-Christ manifested the Quran is a channel they said, you know So it was demonic a lot of them. Yeah demonic exactly So my point is that when I was reading the Quran it was so refreshing because it clearly stated There was just a Muslim and the Muslim being a believer ultimately, right? So there's either belief or non-belief That's it. There is no sect And it clearly stated as well that you shouldn't fall into sectarianism But as humans are flawed, of course that happened within Islam as well Okay Let's continue Thank you very much yet again for the donations guys Yasmine asks what is your wife? What is your wife thinking about accepting Islam now? You would have to ask her. I don't know I'm not pushing anything Upon her you have to understand that me and my wife went through all kinds of things together So be it spirituality new age.  Basically. She's a mother here at home And I'm doing my thing and we're gonna see where that Will lead us. How is that gonna hold it? It's gonna play out Yeah Thank you very much Abu Salaman Dori 25 Sar Being a Muslim is a state of mind and obeying Allah not magic words. You say Shahada is not in the Quran I think we have a Quranist here. I have to assume. I read this argument. Oh, I heard this argument before And the claim was that It was a very negative connotation to it They said that the Shahada itself first and foremost is not in the Quran as such and therefore it is not asked of you by God Moreover, they compared it To certain Christians that declare Jesus Christ is my lord and savior and now I'm saved And this brings you into the faith of Christianity of sorts, right? So by saying certain words you enter the faith And this is not what God asks of you However, what I would say is that in the Quran you can find a Shahada basically and this is of Ibrahim Abraham When he declares that he now submits his will to the one God That is the Shahada of Ibrahim so to speak that we find within the Quran So there is a clear declaration as well And therefore additional to that you find out historically that people that followed prophets They wouldn't declare of course that there is nobody worthy of worship But one God and then you have a certain messenger of that time that you would swear allegiance to so to speak And it's not different within the Within Islam within Yeah, the declaration of Islam the Shahada. It's basically what it is. It's just sort of a natural step Isn't it right if if there was a Muslim community in Um around you or next to you you would go talk to them you'd have conversations with them Right, and then if you know to To join them you would say yeah, well, I believe this Right, right If you if you didn't it would be weird it'd be like, okay, so you're like following us around Do you believe it or not? Are you halfway? Where are you? You know what I mean? So it's sort of natural to just Uh proclaim it to other people Makes absolute sense. Have you watched the movie the message? Well, yeah, you you recommended it to me. I watched it I watched about half of it and then it's long. I told my wife. I was watching it And she said oh, I want to watch it too. So I went back and started from the beginning We watched it together amazing movie man. I learned so much from that movie. It's cool. Amazing movie So good. Yeah, it took me three attempts as well because so long. We're not used to it anymore Especially as parents. I cannot sit three hours and watch a movie. It's impossible Yeah, yeah, I did mine in like three or four sitting. So yeah, yeah It's a lot. Yeah, amazing movie. It's it's amazing how they did it without uh Showing prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. They didn't even show him didn't Didn't hear his voice. Yeah Yeah, I thought it was great. I thought it was a really good movie and it's kind of old So it's like a little bit corny sometimes, but they did a great job. It's a great movie. It's um As far as I'm aware, it's historically accurate and yeah, it's great Yeah, I recommend I absolutely love though that is an old movie because I mean I'm somewhat of a boomer anyways And I don't really like the movies anymore. So it was nice. It was nostalgic, you know the feeling of it Movies are too flashy, aren't they? Yeah, absolutely But moreover what I wanted to say why I bring this movie up is because you see in that movie People that are enemies of Islam enemies of the message, right? And then in order to become part of the team basically, of course, they have to declare what they believe It's just common sense. They call otherwise how otherwise you trust them. You cannot trust them Right, so they're not believing in the messenger. They're not believing in the message So then they're not part of the team. It's very very simple, of course If they sort of integrated themselves without making a declaration it would just Be like, what are you doing? What are you doing? Or are you following us around? Why are you doing everything we do and then if you don't say it out loud, you know, if they ask you do you believe it and you're like I can't say that because it's not in the Quran. You know, it makes no sense. Yeah, it doesn't make sense I mean, especially if you think about the Quran being revealed over, I believe 23 years if I'm mistaken, please let me know. I think it was 23 years And so therefore during the time of the prophet you wouldn't have the whole Quran So that's just what it is. So it's unraveled over 23 years and you already had muslims after the first recitation after the first revelation right, so Right then and there people already without having the full Quran would have Proclaimed that they believe in the message coming from prophet Muhammad You see Yeah, that's the Quranist approach I understand certain points Before you want to do the next one. Yeah, we got a the zoom is gonna run out again. All right again. Okay. Let me reconnect guys Well, man I really need to pay eight hundred dollars. I think to get the full version of this thing Or maybe just change the streaming software. It's not that great either to be totally honest Okay, here we go The zoom is lagging a little bit. It's not fantastic Hey, what's happening? One second guys. Okay, let me fill around with this. I'm going to be back in a Second All right, and I am back here again. We're gonna wait for Daniel People say discord discord discord. I'm gonna try guys. The only issue I'm having with discord is first and foremost I'm not proficient at using it but more over People really like that. They can simply click on a link on zoom and then join in they don't have to download any program So discord you do have to download the whole thing get familiar with it So this could be a bit of a problem because I am expecting many more guests got willing on the show Therefore. Yeah zoom is kind of easy like that. We'll see we'll see how practical discord is All right, Daniel is back with us. Well that note guys, I haven't seen that a whopping $100 donation here If it was donated through super chat or streamlabs, it would show up Even though the stream crashed. It doesn't matter. Especially if it is through Streamlabs, it would definitely go through if it was through super chat and this is when it crashed Even then it went through so I cannot see it here So I don't know if it really was a donation or not Anyways, I'm going to refresh my window and then hopefully it will pop up again Welcome back Daniel. We need to buy the full version of zoom here apparently. Yeah, that's pretty annoying. Yeah I teach classes on zoom and yeah, I have to okay I'm gonna end the zoom you have to rejoin Yeah, man You know, Bobby you can uh, you can uh use um Use that change the idea in a way there's a setting you can change so that you don't have to have a new link every time It can be the same link So all you have to do is in the meeting and then they can just rejoin immediately And then we put it as long as you start it. Yeah, I will see maybe we want to check our discord. It has been recommended here Yeah, maybe something like that or Skype either. I don't know if you use Skype anymore I use Skype for a while, but it's precious all the time. I don't know why Uh, yeah, I'm not surprising Microsoft. Yeah I never really liked Skype. I was found it difficult to use more difficult than it should be Yeah, it should be simple, but it's like let's the IDs are confusing. Everything's confusing For sure. We're now super chat by Said Ali Thank you very much 100 am rate dollars. Thank you so much Said The main source would be the Quran and the secondary source will be Mohammed peace be upon him in his hadith I think that meditation is very useful for the mind just like how exercise is very useful for the body Yeah, I mean, this is the mainstream perception of Islam right the mainstream opinion is Follow the Quran and the Sunnah through the hadiths That's how it is seen When he says meditation You have to define meditation as a million different kinds of meditation That's true You know, I mean Yeah, sure. That's true You have certain mentions of meditation within Islam. For example, when prophet Muhammad goes into the cave and he meditates Some people say there is a poor translation. It means contemplation Etc. Etc. So there is no clear cut answers to this But what we know is that he went into the cave And there he meditated yet again. That's the translation. However, that surely wasn't a Buddhist type meditation Right in that sense, right? So I don't think this is really encouraged Any practice that is coming from Buddhism or hinduism. I can't see being encouraged or even halal so to speak In a Abrahamic faith let alone Islam Yeah, I'm not even it's just yeah, like I said, you have to define meditation because I'm not even sure it Would be encouraged like I'd say the most pure kind of meditation would be to empty your mind, right? But yeah What is the what's the point of that? I mean if Allah put us here to praise Allah is what's Is our mind supposed to be empty? You know what I mean? Is that useful or not? I'm not sure it is An empty mind. That was the orthodox perception of that as well, right? They said when you're emptying your mind This is when demons enter ultimately Yeah, emptying the mind I understand the merit of it if you will because you can return to What is so when you're emptying the mind For a brief moment in time you get away from your thoughts and the thoughts They can be perceived as whispers of Satan as well. You get away from them and you stop Identifying with those thoughts for that practice.  I don't think it is Anyways another super chat by say thank you very much brother says the issue of bida, which is innovation Comes when we add the healthy optional practices as a religious practice. It should only be a supplementary healthy practice only Okay, so what he describes here. I believe is that if there is something that is considered halal You can edit you can do it in your life, but you cannot edit to the religion. So for example if you like to Whatever go for walks in the park And that relaxes you so fundamentally You can say that it's nice. It is halal as well and i'm relaxing while it's doing that But you cannot say it is part of the religion to walk in a park Basically to re-dumb this dog. Yeah, you're making a lot of things. How do you say it's fad fad fad? I know way too much about Islam to not take shahada. I know guys. I know Doesn't make sense. I like what that one guy said that you shouldn't do it unless you feel it's the right thing to do I also had a period where I'm like, I felt like I was being pulled that way to go take shahada But I was like not it wouldn't If if you're not ready to do it, it won't feel right when you do it for sure You you need to really be ready to do it for sure And after all that i've been through or you you know it yourself as well You've been through so many different things that we talked about here This is the first time that i'm actually taking my time Really, it's the first time so I never took my time for anything in life So be it veganism be it certain spiritual practices be it go into the amazon jungle by myself with a backpack And drinking the shamanic brew So all of those things I just did right away without ever contemplating thinking about it And this is why this time around I really took my time without jumping into a decision right and Yeah, with that it has much more gravity And will be something I hope of course that I then can truly commit to because the other things they just faded I said, yes veganism this is it and a few years later The worst thing I ever did to my body Right, oh now i'm going to be a buddhist monk went to the monastery fasted And that wasn't it and that's why this time i'm not saying anything But i'm doing it already learning about it as much as I potentially can and then i'm going to make my sovereign decision So this time my decision-making is very different, especially as a family father Speaking of the shamanic brew there in the jungle I have a buddy that's christian. He Protestant christian He messaged me. He said I met I met god five months ago by drinking Met god. Yeah, and I said well How did that go He said uh, he said I saw a throne there was a throne and God was god was there, but he was too He described it as holy slash bright. He was too holy slash bright to Look at You couldn't look at him, but you knew it was there. There was a throne and it was judgment It was his judgment. There was angels. There was demons. He was being judged in front of everyone and So wow, that is that is powerful man. I haven't talked to him I I'm looking forward to meeting with him in person and talking to him about this further. I'm curious. Did you see jesus? was jesus there Any very well, it could be but um, I sent him the Quran verse about The other throne and judgment in the same verse It could be Yeah, very powerful. I'm not discrediting any of my past experiences per se Because you have this atheistic worldview on them and again, I'm saying experiences because I don't want to trigger youtube here too much You have the atheistic perspective where they just discarded as hallucinations. That's just hallucinations Well, just some things that you saw doesn't mean anything But no, I would say that there is definitely a truth to it and that we can't see the unseen in such experiences Can be positive can be negative that is up to go to the side in the end But yeah, there's definitely the potential to unravel certain things that you otherwise in a waking consciousness state would not be able to see Yeah, sure after me that there's there's plenty of cases where people have had People have done these kinds of things with other people and they both experience or see the same thing And that alone is sort of proof that this is not just in your own mind. It's Something something going on. Yeah um I spoke about her earlier my wife's friend that is here. She's never done any of these kinds of things before and she curious about them and you know, she kind of wanted to hear what I thought about them because my wife told me, you know, I have a I have a stance on this and Basically, I told her that it's like rolling the dice. You're rolling the dice.  That's the question you need to ask yourself and I also told her that ultimately that You know, I said, what do you what do you want from this because the the best thing is to Be close to god That is the best thing you don't need a plant or a Mushroom or any of these things to be close to god. Why would why do you think god would not do that to you? He wouldn't require that you find in the jungle some magic mixture and that might help some people get closer to god, but it's not necessary Right. It's not necessary Yeah, makes sense. Yeah rolling the dice is true. I from my experiences after that I had this extreme dryness just looking around nothing could really satisfy me because I already thought to myself. Wow. I saw the most amazing thing in that experience itself So you could literally have an alien invasion here. UFOs coming project bluebeam And I wouldn't be impressed. I would just sit there and think to myself. Okay, cool What I saw yesterday on my experience was way crazier than any of this You know, and after that it leaves you unsatisfied because once you dive so deep into those experiences It just leaves you so Yeah dry yet again in this creation and you look around and nothing amazes you anymore So how is that good for your existence as a human, right? Yeah, it makes you dull It's Essentially does It can also inflate the ego a lot because you maybe realize like some Things that are very deep and very true And then it's like but you didn't Sometimes you don't earn it in a way.   No, you're not Yeah, absolutely. I happen to me as well. You essentially start worshiping those Experiences and because you had a glimpse you look at the other people it happened to me and I thought oh, wow, they're all mpcs They're just not They don't even exist really I can do whatever I want because I've seen Beyond the veil so to speak and they have not they're not even here really they're asleep So yeah, that's a scary thing I wouldn't recommend it either back in the day when I found out about it. I was recommending it to everybody Yeah, man, you have to do this. Now it is it's the exact opposite When I hear people being interested in it. I'm like Better don't man Okay, we're another super chat here by Said as well. Thank you very much again Said The same will be said if an Islamic school of thought added exercise as part of the religion That's basically what I explained. It will also be considered as a bidder. I hope this Clears things up. God bless you brother and keep up the good work. Thank you very much again for the generous donations my friend and absolutely I understand the principle of course that there should be nothing added to the Yeah, purity of Islam makes sense Can you recite al-Fatiha for us? Ah, that would be embarrassing. I'm still practicing myself But thank you very much for the donation. Maybe one day Abdullah al-Qadir donated three dollars. Thank you very much. Bobby, you mentioned your interest in meditation a few times Are we on that topic now? Can you clarify what you mean by meditation? For most certainly doing a prayer properly as Allah decreed, especially He am Lyle alone Last quarter of the night is the ultimate experience Yeah, we talked about it before again anything that we understand as meditation nowadays buddhism hinduism I wouldn't qualify as Of any use basically In a Islamic practice. So No Yeah, I like it. I like what he mentioned though there that the prayers The most powerful thing and I also think this is true from experience like it's not like it's not like every time you pray It's going to be like fireworks amazing. Oh my god. You feel you feel so good. It's just like any other practice you have It's good days. You have some bad days and um, but yes And sometimes when you really feel the prayer in your heart and you're going through the different Pastures, it's it unexplainable. It feels so good Yeah Abdullah al-Qadir donated three dollars. Bobby No, wait a second. Sorry Abdul Azim Nishad donated. Thank you very much. When will you look into the different creeds of Islam? I personally looked already into it, but you're probably talking about reaction videos I haven't seen any concise video that I could react to so The reaction format is kind of limited. I can't react to a one hour video I usually take videos that are 30 minutes maximum, but usually 10 to 20 minutes So if you have any good videos on the creeds Of Islam, please let me know and then I will react to them. Thank you very much Abdul Um Mal donated two dollars unpopular opinion. We are all in the war together Okay, all right, which which war buddy, which which war I I don't really understand the question I guess was that a question It's unpopular opinion. We are all in the war together if I would know which war we are talking about then I Could really qualify why it is a potentially unpopular opinion like this It's kind of vague. We're all fighting the same fight. I guess in this human experience. So this is what you want to tell us I don't know


The next item of business is a statement by Michael Matheson on community justice in Scotland. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Michael Matheson. Cabinet secretary, 15 minutes are there abouts, please. Presiding Officer, in the summer, I launched this Government's vision and priorities for justice in Scotland, which laid out our intention to adopt a more progressive evidence-based approach supported by partners across the justice sector and beyond. That approach underpins our determination to ensure that we live in safe, cohesive and resilient communities. In the programme for government that was published last week, we pledged to extend the presumption against short sentences to 12 months. That announcement was welcomed by former justice secretaries across the political spectrum who recognise that the time has come to adopt a more progressive and transformative perspective. It is a commitment consistent with the drive to create a more progressive evidence-based justice system. This very week marks the 20th anniversary of the devolution referendum. In the intervening years, this Parliament has done great things. Members across the chamber can feel really proud of its achievements. The one area in which we have made little progress is that of penal reform. In 1999-2000, the average daily prison population across Scotland's prisons was less than 6,000. During 2015-16, that figure was more than 7,600. That means that since the inception of the Parliament, we have witnessed an increase of nearly 30 per cent in the number of people that are locked up on any given day. We know that short prison sentences do little to rehabilitate people or to reduce the likelihood of their re-offending. We know that short term imprisonment, the shrubs families and communities and adversely affects employment opportunities and stable housing—the very things that evidence shows support assistance from offending. We know that this is a poor use of public resources and a waste of human potential. There will always be cases in which the courts rightly take the view that a prison sentence is absolutely justified. For those individuals who end up in custody, we need to think beyond just bricks and mortar. That change is part of the rationale behind our plans for the female custodial estate. In July, I witnessed the start of demolition work on Conton Vale prison. The Scottish Prison Service has now commenced the planning and public consultation process for the creation of its replacement. Although it is located on the existing site of Conton Vale, it will provide an entirely new approach for custodial care of around 80 women. The new facility will run using therapeutic community principles and will incorporate gender-specific and trauma-informed practice, addressing the particular needs of the female prison population. For women who do not require the level of security or intensive intervention provided by the national facility, we will provide community custodial units. In July, I announced that the first two units would be located in Glasgow and either Fife or Dundee. I can today inform Parliament that the Scottish Prison Service has acquired a site in Maryhill for the first unit in Glasgow and that the second will be in Dundee. Those new community units will assist women to maintain their links with their family and accommodate them close to both their communities and the agencies that can ensure that they are able to move away from offending. Work in those units will respond to the changing profile of the female prison population and the risk profile of women in custody. The Scottish Prison Service plans that those first two units and the national facility will be opened by the end of 2020. That work is part of wider transformation within our prisons, professionalising the role of prison officers, ensuring a focus on rehabilitation and supporting the reintegration of people leaving custody. Those developments are encouraging, but I would still like to see our criminal justice system have a stronger emphasis on robust community sentences that focus on a addressing the causes of offending behaviour. In the 2008 report of the Scottish Prisons Commission, Henry McLeish wrote that, in order to better target imprisonment and to make it more effective, it should be reserved for, and I quote, people whose offences are so serious that no other form of punishment will do and for those who pose a threat of serious harm to the public. That aim will be described as a necessary touchstone of a society that wants to break with the idea that the only real punishment is prison. If we truly want to hold ourselves up as a modern and progressive nation, then I believe that that is the foundation that our community justice system needs to build on. The First Minister has made clear her ambition to build an inclusive and socially just Scotland. Her justice system has a crucial role to play in shaping that future and in helping to tackle social inequality. A just, equitable and inclusive society is one that needs to be supported by a progressive evidence-based justice system. A system that works across communities to reduce and ultimately to prevent further offending. A system that holds individuals to account for their offending but which ultimately supports them to make positive contributions to our communities. Over the past decade, this Government has taken steps to end our reliance on custody and moved towards effective community sentences that enhance public safety and promote rehabilitation. The evidence shows that they are more effective at reducing reoffending and thus reducing the risk of further victims. When this Government first came to power, more people were given custodial sentences than community sentences. Since then, there has been an increasing shift in favour of community sentences. The latest figures show that, in 2015-16, over 5,000 more community sentences were imposed than custodial sentences. That is 5,000 more opportunities for individuals to pay back for their harm that they have caused. It is also fewer prison receptions taking up resources in our prison system and fewer people having to make the difficult transition from custody back into the community. That transition also happens for people held on remand, which is why the programme for government also outlines our continued backing for supported and supervised bail, helping individuals to remain in the community under supervision. This Government will continue to promote the delivery of effective evidence-based interventions, designed to prevent and reduce further offending. Our national strategy for community justice sets out our commitment to shifting criminal justice interventions upstream using the least-intrusive intervention at the earliest point. It encourages justice partners to maximise opportunities for the appropriate use of diversion from prosecution to help address the underlying causes of offending and ensures that people get access to drug, alcohol, mental health or other appropriate services. We remain committed to supporting local authorities in delivering robust community sentences that deliver tangible benefits for our communities. Funding for criminal justice social work remains at record levels. We invested an additional £4 million in community sentencing in 2016-17 and again in 2017-18. Last week, we announced legislation that would give our sentensers broader options and powers for using electronic monitoring. Just this morning, we published analysis of a public consultation on our next steps. Electronic monitoring is already an important tool in the delivery of justice. It carries a punitive element and offers a range of options to improve public protection, while allowing an individual to maintain their employment and their family links. When used to enforce curfew conditions, it can provide stability to those who are offending as part and parcel of a chaotic lifestyle. The forthcoming legislation will expand the range of options and enable the use of new technology such as GPS. Sitting alongside community sentences, the presumption against short sentences underlines our determination to move away from short-term custodial sentences. It is, of course, a presumption and not a ban. Sentencing discretion remains with the courts, and it is for the courts to decide the appropriate sentence based on the facts at hand. The purpose of the presumption is to ensure that short sentences are imposed when they are the only suitable option. As I have made clear, our vision for community justice is predicated on an evidence-based approach. That evidence shows that the use of very short sentences has fallen over the past decade. However, it also shows that we need to go further if we are to make a real impact on Scotland's high rate of imprisonment and the negative consequences of short-term sentences. That is why we consulted on a proposal to strengthen the presumption. The responses to the consultation were overwhelmingly supportive of an extension, and the vast majority of those who expressed a view favoured a presumption against sentences of 12 months or less. There was, however, a clear view that any extension of the presumption would need to be accompanied by a commitment to developing and resourcing community sentences, and concerns were voiced by a number of respondents over the need to ensure that the court was able to take steps to protect victims, especially victims of domestic violence. Since the consultation closed, this Government has worked with stakeholders across the justice sector to address these very concerns. In March of this year, I brought before this Parliament the Domestic Abuse Scotland Bill. The bill contains a number of provisions specifically designed to protect the victims of domestic abuse. It will ensure that, when sentencing, courts are required to have regard of the needs to protect victims from further offences and contains provisions that will make it mandatory for the court to consider imposing a non-harassment order following a conviction. Of course, the bill contains the new domestic abuse offence, carrying a tough maximum sentence of 14 years, which will improve the justice system's ability to hold perpetrators of domestic abuse to account. Those provisions place the safety of victims at the heart of the legislation, and I urge members across the chamber to support this important bill in the coming months. I can confirm that we will work in collaboration with Scottish Women's Aid to ensure that developments in electronic monitoring will improve the safety of women and children who are affected by domestic abuse. We have already taken steps to create a more progressive landscape for the delivery of community sentences, with a new model coming into effect on 1 April this year. The model places decision-making locally with those who know their community's best, who understand the problems in their areas and who will be most affected by community justice issues. Under the new model, local planning, delivery and collaboration are complemented by national leadership and strategic direction provided by a new body, Community Justice Scotland. Community Justice Scotland will raise awareness of the benefits of community sentences and build public support. Working with community justice partners and stakeholders, it will drive improvement in service delivery in order to build safer, stronger and more inclusive communities. I believe that, in combination, those measures address the concerns expressed by respondents to the consultation. That is why we will not only implement the extension to the presumption once the relevant provisions of the domestic abuse bill are in force. Subject to approval by Parliament, I anticipate that the extended presumption will therefore be in place by the end of 2018. This Government believes that extending the presumption is in line with its progressive approach to criminal justice policy. More than that, in concert with its on-going approach to deliver safer and stronger communities, it is about being the progressive and socially inclusive nation that we want to be. Thank you very much, cabinet secretary. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in this statement and tend to allow around 30 minutes for questions after which we must move on to the next item of business that will be helpful if those members who wish to ask a question were to press the request to speak buttons now. I call Liam Kerr to be followed by Clare Baker. Mr Kerr, please. Thank you, Deputy Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of his statement. Let me make clear at the outset that I welcome parts of the statement, in particular the expansion in use of new forms of electronic monitoring—something called for in my party's manifesto—and the general principles of the domestic abuse bill. However, there are areas of concern. Can the cabinet secretary really refer to the current system of community sentences as robust and effective when a third of community payback orders are never completed and some offenders are waiting over a year for their work placement to begin? Although the focus on reducing re-offending is welcome, will the cabinet secretary recognise that, after 10 years of Scottish National Party Government, the re-offending rate has barely shifted from where it was at the start of devolution, one in three? To address that, will he agree that, alongside a rigorous system of community sentences, we must also ensure that there is adequate work and purposeful activity in prisons and reverse his Government's 300,000-hour cut in the last two years? I welcome his support for a greater use of electronic monitoring. I am not entirely sure what his own party's views are on the type of electronic monitoring and how it should be used in partnership with community sentencing, because we know that electronic monitoring used on its own is very ineffective. It has to be part of a programme that addresses individuals offending behaviour. That is why we support the extension. I am slightly surprised that the member supports the idea of a greater use of electronic monitoring but not a greater use of community sentencing, which is a key part of making it effective. If you look at experience across Europe, that is exactly how it is made much more effective. I also welcome his support for the domestic abuse bill, which is a slight change in approach from the previous Justice Spokesperson for the Conservative Party. The issue of compliance with the completion of community payback orders, the reality is that the completion of community payback orders, since they have been changed, has increased compared to the previous scheme, which was in place. There has been an increase in compliance and the completion of those particular orders, but alongside that, the outcomes for them are better. When the member says that the reconviction rate has not changed, the reality is that the reconviction rate is at its lowest level in 18 years, which is a significant improvement. I suspect that the member is not aware of this, but it is better than any other part of the UK compared to the issue. That is important progress, and that has happened during the course of an increasing use of community payback orders. The approach that we are determined to take in this Government is based on evidence. What is more effective in tackling the causes that drive someone's offending behaviour? In doing that, effectively, we can reduce the risk of individuals committing offences again in the future. All of the evidence, not just here in Scotland but internationally, demonstrates that community payback orders and community sentencing are much more effective than short-term prison sentences. If we get that right, we can reduce the risk of offenders committing offences again in the future. That is exactly what we are going to be taking forward. That is why, in Scotland, recorded crime is also at a 42-year low. We have a very strong track record on how we deliver justice in this country, and the track record that we have over the past 10 years in changing the way in which we are delivering community sentencing is also demonstrating the benefits that come from that. That is what the programme of work will take forward. Claire Baker Thank you to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice for Scotland's advance copay of the statement. There is much that we can agree on, and we support the need for prison reform and the important role that community sentencing can play. However, there are a couple of points that I wish to raise. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice for Scotland will be aware that crimes currently given less than 12 months sentencing include handling offensive weapons, assaults, violent crimes and domestic abuse. The Scottish Labour's manifesto committed to an increase to six months. He will need to work hard to convince the public of the merits of his argument, particularly those who have been victims of crimes that are often very distressing and even life-changing. Can I ask if he has given enough so far to convince the women's aid of those plans? The existing presumption at the moment does not mean an end to sentencing of up to three months. I constantly hear that there is a lack of confidence within the courts for the community options, and a sentencing option will often be taken because it is seen in the best interests of the convicted as well as the victim. Community options are often under funded, patchy and provision and can be opened to abuses. We are all familiar with reports about the level of breaches and stretched resources. How will the cabinet secretary ensure that community options are properly resourced and that they provide a robust alternative that victims can have confidence in and deliver a system that puts the protection of the public first? Picking up on the latter part that the member made about the confidence around community sentencing, I agree that that is extremely important. It has been a longstanding issue about making sure that our sentencers have confidence in the community disposals that are to hand. We know from some of the research work that has been carried out that sentencers have greater confidence in the community payback scheme that we now have in place compared to the previous scheme. That was part of the review that was carried out in 2015, identifying that from our sentencers. However, we need to make sure that we build on that and continue to have our sentencers having confidence in that process. That is why we have provided that extra £4 million to our local authorities to deliver further community sentence programmes and to extend the range of programmes that are available. We have now provided that over two financial years and we will consider that going forward because it is an area of priority that I recognise is important in expanding the range of options that are there and also to make sure that our sentencers have confidence in them. However, if the public are to have faith in the greater use of community sentences, they must be effective in delivering better outcomes. Just today, I was in Dumfirmland and Fife looking at the Wings project, which is delivered there by the local authority that was initially set up by funding that came from the Scottish Government around changing our approach to female offending. The outcomes from that project have been really positive. It is a demonstration of local policy being taken forward by a local authority making a real difference in tackling offending of behaviour among young people and it has the confidence of sentencers who make use of that. I turn to the issue though around some of the specific offences that she made reference to. For example, the average custodial sentence for handling offensive weapons has more than doubled in the last 10 years. It has gone from 160 days in 2006, 7 to 365 days in 2015-16. For some of the other areas as well, including domestic violence, very often sentencers have increased over the last 10 years for those particular offences. However, it is also important to recognise that the presumption is exactly that. It is a presumption. If a sentencer still believes that an individual for any of those offences should have a period in custody, that option will remain open to them and it will be their choice to make that decision. It is important to recognise that those sentences have been increasing for a range of the crimes that the member made reference to. It has also got to be recognised that, even with a presumption, the sentencer will still have the right to be able to impose a custodial sentence if they believe that that is the most appropriate measure that should be applied. I have 13 members wishing to ask questions. I have 20 minutes. You can do the arithmetic, so could I ask for succinct questions, please? I welcome the steps taken by the Government in recent years to tackle domestic abuse, including bringing forward the new legislation. Given that, and that increased awareness and reporting of such offences is likely to lead to a higher rate of conviction and community payback orders, what steps is the Government taking to ensure that resources are made available to effective, specifically around domestic abuse rehabilitation programmes to reduce the risk of re-offending?  We have taken forward a range of measures to support organisations that work with women who experience domestic abuse, including providing an extra £20 million from the justice portfolio over the course of the past three years to support some of those measures. Part of that includes, for example, extending the programme of the Caledonian programme, tackling those who perpetrate domestic abuse in order to change their behaviour. Alongside that, the measures that we put in the domestic abuse bill with the mandatory requirement to consider a non-harassment order in order to protect women who have experienced domestic abuse. However, as I mentioned in my statement, we are also going to be looking at how electronic monitoring can be used to help to support women who have experienced domestic abuse as well. That is one of the pilot projects that we will look at taking forward on electronic monitoring with women's aid in Scotland. Margaret Mitchell will follow by Rona Mackay. The cabinet secretary makes no reference to those at risk of offending, many of whom do so as a result of debt. Is he aware of cap debt counselling, which works Scotland-wide, helping those in crisis with debt? Can he outline how the Scottish Government will raise awareness about the work of voluntary and third sector organisations like cap counselling that do so much to identify and support those at risk of offending? I recognise that debt is an issue that can blip many individuals and family households. There are a range of measures that the Scottish Government takes forward in working in partnership with agencies to tackle issues of debt and to ensure that individuals receive the right advice and information to assist them in addressing any issues of debt. However, given a very specific project that the member raised, I will ask my cabinet colleague, Angela Constance, who is responsible for this area of policy, to write to the member, setting out exactly the measures that have been taken forward to support those types of organisations. I think that it was connected to the statement in that it may lead people into crime and so on in conviction. I think that that was the link that you were making. I saw a little frown on your face. Rona Mackay, all by Mary Fee. What impact will the presumption against short sentences have on the Scottish prison service? The impact of the presumption against short sentences moving to 12 months on the prison population will be dependent on how sentences are chose to take that forward. For example, if there is a greater use of community sentencing, that could result in a reduction in the number of individuals who receive a short-term prison sentence of less than 12 months. What we have seen, since the presumption has moved to three months, is that we have seen a reduction in the number of people who have received sentences of under three months. It would be reasonable to anticipate that we would see a reduction in the overall prison population should more of our sensors choose not to send someone to custody for less than 12 months and to make use of a community disposal instead. However, that will be entirely dependent on how our judiciary choose to take that forward. With local authorities and partner agencies on the ground taking on a greater role in community justice, will the cabinet secretary provide an assurance today that Scotland's councils, which have seen budgets cut year after year by his Government, will he give an assurance that he will receive funding for community justice that matches the real cost of delivering effective and meaningful community sentences, as COSLA has highlighted? Can he also confirm when the funding formula for community sentences will be announced because he has not done that today? The funding formula for the allocation of resources has already been published earlier this year, as it was agreed with COSLA and the COSLA leadership group that was applied to the financial year. That is already an area that has been agreed to. I should point out to the member that community justice budgets have been protected during the whole course of the last number of years under this Government. In fact, we have increased them with the extra £4 million that we have put in over the past two years to them, but the community justice social work budgets have been ring-fenced for some time and we continue to protect them. That is why, with the additional £4 million over the past two years, we have record funding for community justice programmes. I should also point out that the support for community justice programmes is not just funding that goes to local authorities. For example, we support a range of organisations such as SACRO, APEX, Shine Mentoring, etc., who provide services right across the country, who are national service providers within the third sector. We have been increasing our level of funding available to them to provide those types of services going forward over the past couple of years. Cabinet Secretary, your reference was made to the resource allocation model. Some community disposals require a certain cohort of personnel involved to make them viable. Can you advise whether the resource allocation model reflects that and thereby ensures that offenders in rural areas are not disadvantaged over offenders in urban areas? The member raises an important point. It is worth re-emphasising to Parliament that the resource allocation model that is now in place is one that was agreed by local authorities in Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Government. We have taken that forward on a co-production basis so that it is designed to try to help to support local authorities as best possible. We have also said that the transition will be over a five-year period so that there is no marked financial disadvantage to the reallocation of resources. A specific part of the resource allocation model is to ensure that the resources that are allocated to local authorities are reflective of the real need in that community. It should ensure that our rural communities, where there is a real need, are better reflected on how funding is allocated to local authorities going forward. There were concerns about the previous model, which was largely focused on allocation to our main central belt local authorities. That allows for a greater, more effective distribution of that funding across all local authorities in Scotland, reflecting local need. Liam McArthur, followed by Graeme Dey. I thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of his statement for the liberal measures within it and to his response to John Finnie's question. He is referred to Cosland, Sacro, but both are pointing to the significant expansion that is needed in provision and the real cost of the additional resources that will need to be put in. Is he aware of that and what assurances can he give to Cosland, Sacro and others that those resources will be committed by the Government? I recognise that there is a reduction in the number of individuals who receive a custodial sentence that we will have to see a greater expansion of community disposals. That is why, two years ago, I took a decision to increase the allocation of resources to community based programmes to allow them to start to expand and to develop. What I would anticipate as we see some of the changes within our overall prison population is a freeing up of some of the resources that are presently tied down to our custodial estate, which I would then seek to look at reallocating into community-based programmes. That is a process that I said that we have already started with the £4 million increase over the course of the past two years, and I will continue to look at how we can have an incremental increase in that as we go forward. Importantly, it is not just about increasing funding to local authorities, it will also be about making sure that we have third sector organisations such as Sacro and others able to support some of that work across the country through some of the national programmes that they deliver. Graham Dey following by Maurice Corry. The cabinet secretary will be aware of the important work that is carried out by existing community-based services targets, specifically female offenders. The Glyn-Iowa project that is based in my constituency is one very good example of that. Can the cabinet secretary expand on the role that he envisages such projects having going forward? I am aware of that, particularly the project in the value that has come from it. The member may be aware of working with female offenders that we had the change fund, which was there to support the initiation of some of those services within local communities. What we did not do was impose a particular type of model for working with female offenders. We wanted that to be developed at a local level. Angus was one of the areas that followed a model that was reflective of the local community's needs. The purpose behind the funding that we put into place was to help to support that model being developed and then for that to be mainstreamed within the local authority area. Some of the local authorities have now taken that forward. There is absolutely no doubt from what I witnessed today in the way in which Fife Council has taken it forward, which has been very impressive with the Wings project, just demonstrates how successful that type of approach can be. The project that the member makes reference to in Angus is another example of that type of success. I see the projects as being key to the on-going work in changing the way in which we deal with female offenders. Equally, with the change in the female custodial estate, I recognise that there will need to be a greater tie-in between some of those projects and the new female custodial units when individuals are being released from them back into the local communities. However, having them closer to Angus and that of Compton Vale will help to facilitate that type of partnership working, which will be absolutely crucial to help to reduce the risk of those individuals when they go back into the community to be able to settle back in and to become productive members of a local community. Maurice Corry, followed by Ben Macpherson. Can the cabinet secretary offer any reassurance to those communities and victims of crime living in Maryhill and Dundee who may have concerns about the safety of their new community custodial units? Cabinet secretary, I recognise the issue that the member has raised. I am sure that he will recognise our determination to fundamentally change the way in which we tackle the whole issue of female offending. However, what I think is also worth noting is that I think that there is a danger, and I say just a danger that some people may choose to try and turn it into a political football on the basis of the location where some of those facilities will go. That is a transformational approach to tackling female offenders in Scotland and those who come into our custodial estate. I hope that there will be cross-party support right across the chamber for that change in model and the benefits that can come from female custodial units. We know from the Angelina report that we are looking at female custodial issues that smaller units in local communities closer to the community where the individual came from and the services that will support them once they go back into the community are much more effective in reducing the risk of their offending behaviour again in the future. Of course, those units will be for individuals who are of low risk. However, I certainly hope that, across the chamber, there will be cross-party support for that change in model and to provide assurances to communities that is about delivering greater safety within the whole issue of working with female offenders, rather than increasing risk. I strongly welcome today's statement because it is widely accepted that community justice helps to reduce re-offending. However, what action is the Scottish Government also taking to reduce the chances of those given custodial sentences from re-offending? One of the benefits that I believe from reducing the prison population is that it will increase capacity within our prison service to tackle the causes of those who have committed serious offences much more effectively. We just have to look at the conditions and the situation in England and Wales where there is just complete chaos in the prison estate. One of the major problems that it has as a result of that is that it is not able to deliver effective rehabilitation programmes to any great degree. Part of the challenge that we have in Scotland is that we still have a large part of the prison services resources that are taken up by the churn of short-term prisoners moving through the system. That takes up a disproportionately large amount of the prison systems resources. If some of those resources can be released and some of the capacity that comes from that is released, it allows us to focus more of those resources on tackling some of the issues of the serious offenders who are within our custodial estate, while at the same time allowing us in the future to move some of that resource into the community setting as well. That is one of the real potential benefits that we have in reducing our prison population. I hear members who say that what we need to do is just to have more rehabilitation within our prisons. The reality is that for short-term prisoners from the time of being inducted into the prison and the time that they are leaving, it is a very short window to address any form of offending behaviour. Anyone who has any knowledge of the approach to rehabilitation would recognise that trying to do that effectively in such a short period of time is quite frankly almost impossible to do. That is why if we are to deliver effective rehabilitation, it is better that it is targeted at those who are in prison for a longer period of time and taking a community-based approach, which is much more effective in tackling offending behaviour. Mark Griffin will follow by Tair Hocky. The cabinet secretary has rightly spoken about the impact that imprisonment has on employment opportunities and stable housing, which is likely to increase rates of re-offending. Can I ask what discussions the cabinet secretary and his officials have had around the new social security powers and social security agency and what practical support they would be offering offenders who are just about to be released from prison? The member raises a very important issue, because one of the real challenges for individuals being liberated from prison is issues around housing and issues around welfare and employment, which is one of the reasons why we also set out in the programme for government the need to make sure that we have a greater provision of supervised bail and other bail options, rather than remand, because we know effectively that that allows someone, if they are in employment or half-housing, for that to be maintained until the point of the matter reaching court and sentence being imposed thereafter. I have already had discussions and there is on-going work within Government, both with Jeane Freeman and with Kevin Stewart looking at how we can align the new social security powers that we have to better meet the needs of some of those who are being liberated from prison. For example, one of the real challenges around the DWP's changes to universal credit was that it had to be able to apply for it online. The challenges were in prison and it had to have an address before it could apply for it, but for many individuals who are in prison, they did not have an address and they did not have access to a computer to be able to facilitate that, which created problems right from the very outset, which meant that very often they were being liberated without having access to benefits. So we have already been doing work internally in Government to look at how we can address those very specific measures that would help to support an individual getting into housing, but also being able to get access to welfare at the point when they are liberated from prison and ministers within Government have already engaged in that process with the Scottish Prison Service to look at how we can deliver that much more effectively going forward. Clare Haughey, followed by Gordon Lindhurst. Can the cabinet secretary provide more detail about which groups took part in the consultation on the presumption against short sentences and what evidence they gave to support that position? The feedback that we received from the consultation has been published, but it ranged from organisations from COSLA through to experts within the justice sector, within the academic world, to those within SACRO, APEX through to the Howard League and a range of individual local authorities. There is a wide range of organisations. I should also mention Scottish Women's Aid and some of the other organisations that work with women who have experienced domestic violence. That is also why, when members were raising the issue about when we would publish our views on the responses to the consultation, I made it very clear at that time, that we were working through the responses that we had received, and in particular the concerns that have been raised by a couple of those stakeholders, particularly Scottish Women's Aid. I set out my statement and measures that we have taken forward in order to address the concerns that they had raised during the course of the consultation. It is worth keeping in mind that there was overwhelming support from those who responded to the consultation to moving the presumption against short sentences moving to 12 months. I welcome the commitment to a system that works with communities to reduce and ultimately prevent further offending. I also recognise the comments about those who are on short-term sentences, but we have something like 1,000-plus prisoners currently in the Scottish prisons who are not engaged in what the guidelines refer to as purposeful activity. I am just wondering if the cabinet secretary can give an indication of what specific measures are being looked at to try and address that specific issue for those who remain in prison. The review of purposeful activity was carried out by the SPS, and it is already taking forward a range of measures to change the way in which activities are delivered within the prison estate. I must re-emphasise the issue about the idea of purposeful activity in working with short-term prisoners. There are probably in the region of around 4,000 short-term prisoners who go through the Scottish prison estate in the course of any year. Put that in context of the fact that we have around 7,000 to 7,500 prisoners in the system over the course of a year just demonstrates the number of short-term prisoners that they are working with. Many of whom will present with alcohol and drug mental health issues that need to be addressed. What the Scottish prison service will do is to try to address those issues as best they can within that short period of time. However, the member will recognise that when someone naturally comes into prison with many years, possibly many decades, of problems with alcohol and drugs and mental health issues, it is almost impossible for the prison service to address that within a six-month or seven-month period. The reality is that, to deal with those issues, you need a much longer period of time in order to address them much more effectively. One of the big problems that undermines the prison service being able to work more effectively with other prisoners who are in for more than a year is the churn of short-term prisoners that takes up a disproportionate amount of the prison services resource. If we can free up some of that capacity, it will allow them to give greater focus to purposeful activity and other appropriate interventions while someone is in prison. At the same time, it will allow us to use those resources in the community that are much more effective in dealing with the underlying causes that drive offending behaviour such as alcohol, drug and mental health issues, which we know can be much more effectively addressed when someone is on a community disposal. Emma Harper Does the cabinet secretary agree that enabling female offenders to maintain links with their families will not only benefit them but will often benefit the families, potentially reducing the chances of children becoming involved in crime as they grow up? The member raises a very important point, which was one of the key issues that was highlighted by the Angelini report, highlighting in particular the breaking family link. It can have a breaking anybody's family link during the period of custody. It can have a very significant impact on that family, but in particular it can have a very negative impact on any children in that family. There is a growing body of evidence that shows that adverse childhood events such as parental imprisonment can have a very significant impact on that child's development in the future, with an increasing risk that they end up getting involved in the criminal justice system themselves. We have to listen to the evidence in this matter, and it is clearly an issue that we know can also damage children affected by parental imprisonment. However, we have now put additional resources in place to allow a range of family contact centres to be provided at our prisons. We now have 11 in place. I opened the most recent at Glen Ocle, which is there to support that contact between family and prisoner. However, the reason that we have moved to a model around the female custodial estate, which is the smaller community custodial units, is to allow women to then be placed in custody much closer to their family to be able to maintain those contacts more effectively. However, when they leave that establishment, the services that are there to support them and assist them are the services that have been assisting them while they were in the community unit as well. That is a model that we know can be much more effective in helping to support women who do find themselves in custody, but we also know that it can help to support the family more effectively and reduce the risk that it exposes children who experience a period of their parent being in custody. I believe that that will achieve better outcomes in the future, but also, importantly, it will also prevent those individuals from committing further offences in the future, because family contact is a key factor in promoting assistance.