Seminar on the Life of the Prophet

Dr. Mozammel Haque

A Seminar on the life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) was organised by the Union of Muslim Organisations of UK & Eire (UMO) at the Churchill Hotel, London, on Monday, the 16th of March, 2009, which was attended by the Mayor of Westminster, Simon Hughes, M.P., Hazzaa al-Hasher of the Saudi Embassy in UK; Mohamed Ali, CEO, Islam Channel and many other community leaders and diplomatic representatives.

Dr. Syed Aziz Pasha

Welcoming the gatherings, Dr. Syed Aziz Pasha, the General Secretary of the Union of Muslim Organisations of UK and Eire (UMO), said, “The UMO, for the last 39 years, has been consistently organising this Seminar on the Life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as an important event in its calendar. People ask why Muslims are giving so much importance. We are giving importance for two reasons: one is mundane and another is spiritual. From the first angle, the whole world acknowledges that our Holy Prophet is the greatest benefactor of the humanity. During his prophetic life he brought about a huge transformation in the quality of life in Arabia whose ramifications were felt throughout the world and whose effects are being felt even today.”

Speaking about the equality of humans, Dr. Pasha mentioned, “The Holy Prophet (pbuh) brought about the concept of human brotherhood transcending the barriers of race, colour and ethnicity. In his Farewell Sermon he proclaimed that there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab or a non-Arab over an Arab or a white over a black or a black over a white – that all are born from Adam and Adam was born out of clay.”

Speaking about the status of woman, Dr. Pasha mentioned, “The Prophet (pbuh) uplifted the condition of women who were treated like chattel in the Arabian society and instructed the Muslims to treat woman as equal partner in life. They have rights over you and you have rights over them. Now the women throughout the world are enjoying the right of equality because of the contribution of our Holy Prophet (pbuh). So, Mr. Geert Wilders, the Dutch M.P. who criticised our Prophet in his Film - Fitna - should be ashamed of himself and he should express his gratitude to the Holy Prophet (pbuh).”

Speaking on the recession, Dr. Pasha pointed out, “Our Holy Prophet prohibited usury and exploitation of the poor by the rich. Now because of the recession it is affecting the whole economic system. The Governments are forced to cut down the rate of interest to nearly zero percent which is exactly what our Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has legislated more than 1400 years ago. We believe that our Prime Minister Gordon Brown who is engaged in reforming the economic and banking system and who is a great admirer of the Sharia-based economic system should seriously considered to introduce a total Islamic way of economics in his quest to have a new world order based on justice and compassion.”

Dr. Pasha also said, “Our Holy Prophet (pbuh) is acclaimed by friends and foes alike as a greatest champion of the cause of the poor, underprivileged, orphans, widows and all others who are still experiencing hardships in life.”

Regarding the spiritual side, Dr. Pasha maintained, “Our Holy Prophet (pbuh) is the last in the line of Prophets who gave us an ideology and a way of life which guarantees peace and happiness in this world and eternal felicity in the Life Hereafter. Allah the Almighty has designated him as a Prophet of Mercy unto All Mankind and as a role model for us to follow in order to obtain blessings of Allah the Almighty. His coming has been foretold by the Prophets – Moses and Jesus – peace be upon them – and is clearly mentioned in the Torah and Bible.”

Deputy Lord Mayor of Westminster

Deputy Lord Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Alan Bradley said, “You are celebrating the birthday every year. Your organisation truly exemplified Islam’s teachings of peace, humanity and universal brotherhood. I wish you all success.”

Lord Shaikh

Lord Shaikh said, “On my court of arms, I have a peacock holding a pen; why pen because pen is actually mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. So I have a peacock holding a pen and my motto is Iqra. Why Iqra, it is for two reasons: the first word revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) is Iqra. Iqra also means read, proclaim, it also means pen and I am very very keen on education.”

“I always give advice to my Muslim brothers and sisters, “Please educate your children. The Holy Prophet said, Seek knowledge even it is in China,” he quoted.

“My maiden speech was on environment,” Lord Shaikh said and added, “The Holy Prophet has said, the earth is green and beautiful and Allah has appointed you custody over it. Allah has made this planet and Allah has appointed us as people to look after this planet. It is important that we look after this planet because this planet otherwise will be destroyed.”

“The Holy Prophet also said when doomsday comes if someone has plum seeds in his hands, he should plant it. He commanded his armies not to harm women and children; furthermore, he instructed them not to harm animals or destroy crops or cut down trees. I repeat: don’t cut down trees; because he cared about the trees,” said Lord Shaikh.