Seminar on the Life of the Prophet Peace be upon him

Seminar on the Life of the Prophet
Peace be upon him

Dr. Mozammel Haque

The Union of Muslim Organisations of the United Kingdom and Ireland (UMO of UK & Eire) held a Seminar on the Life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) at the Churchill Hotel, on Tuesday, the 2nd of March, 2010. This is one item which Dr. Syed Aziz Pasha, the General Secretary of the UMO never missed. “Once I was in hospital and I asked my assistant secretary to carry on and he held the function,” said Dr. Pasha.

Dr. Pasha also mentioned, “We organised this function every year without fail for two reasons: one is spiritual and another is mundane; spiritual reason because the Prophet (peace be upon him) was the first of Creation. Allah created the Nur of the Prophet and then the other Creation. He gave the title Rahmatullil Alamin; Mercy of all the Creatures. Why He said that. Allah is Rabbul Alamin; Prophet is Rahmatullil Alamin. Then all the Prophets who subsequently came they had the same faith al-Islam which he brought. The latest Prophets - Musa (peace be upon him) and Issa (peace be upon him) - both of them had forecast the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And they said when he comes follow him.”

Referring to his speech as a guest speaker in the Westminster Cathedral, where there were many Church leaders, Jewish Rabbis, Dr. Pasha recollected, “Do you know the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a Prophet for all mankind. He was sent for all mankind and he said two things - all children are born in fitra, in Al-Islam. It is the parents who rear them up in their own faiths.”

“All the Prophets (peace be upon them all) were Muslims. Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) was Muslim. This is a spiritual reason. That’s why we always say Allah the Almighty will ask us on the Day of Judgement: ‘I didn’t ask you to convert the people; I ask you to convey the message to the people that Islam is the only religion acceptable to Allah on the Day of Judgement,’” said Dr. Pasha and added, “We are doing our job. We are trying to save our skin. We can give this message to the people saying: ‘Our Prophet conveyed this message’.”

Secondly, while speaking on the mundane side, Dr. Pasha mentioned, “Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) brought a system of life; a system of government and ideology which guarantees happiness on this earth and permanent felicity in the life Hereafter. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him) was the only Prophet who was given the honour of being transported bodily to witness all the seven Heavens and what happens to people after they die. The Paradise and the Hell they are realities.”

Dr. Pasha also mentioned, “We are all discussing economics, recession; nobody worries about the moral breakdown in society. The UMO, for the past 40 years, what we have tried to do is to promote unity between the Muslims and to facilitate the upbringing of Muslim children in a moral and spiritual atmosphere. So coming elections, what we are going to say? We are going to issue a document now. The Catholics have issued; Muslims should issue a document: Top priority should be upliftment of morality.”

Dr. Pasha said, “Two things Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did. The Charter of Madina and the Charter of Human Rights. In that Charter of Madina he gave rights to the minorities. He said no compulsion in religion but our job is to convey. Don’t complain on the day of Akhirah. Minorities are protected; their religious freedoms are protected. Nowadays people are saying Islam is a religion of terrorism. Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance and justice.”

“Secondly, the Human Rights Charter in which he declared the Universal brotherhood of all mankind. In a world which is still torn aside by racial violence, ethnic violence, Islam stands as a light of hope for humanity in the message of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),” mentioned Dr. Pasha and added, “So, Insha Allah, we will do our best to campaign for the rights of the Muslim communities, no matter Member of Parliament is here or not; the Ministers are here or not; our negotiations will continue. We will continue to campaign for the rights because we believe that we are an ideologically oriented community.”

Dr. Pasha said that he saw many times Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, and told him, “There is no point of invading Iraq because you are a good negotiator in peace. All those things can be settled through negotiations. There is no room for violence any more. Violence breeds more violence; no peace for anybody. That’s our message. The Prophet (peace be upon him) brought the eternal message of peace and warned: Remember: ‘You owe your duty to Allah the Almighty. You are all born from one man and one woman. And Adam was created of dust’.”

Imam Sulaimani
Imam Sulaimani, Imam of the Hounslow Mosque, while delivering his message, he narrated the very well-known story of the Salman Farsi’s journey to Islam. Imam Sulaimani said, “Salman Farsi finally reached Yathrib which became Madina and wanted to judge and fulfil the conditions, predicted by monks and scholars of the previous scriptures. On the occasion of funeral he was walking around Rasulullah and the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to know that he was looking for something. So he removed the Jubbah or cloak from his shoulders so that Salman is looking to see the Seal or Finality of Prophethood of Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). So he saw it and he became very pleased. In the narration it was mentioned that he kissed it as well.”

Imam Sulaimani said, “This is one of the conditions which was mentioned by the monks and the scholars of the previous scriptures. So this is fulfilled that the Rasulullah is the last final Prophet of Allah the Almighty. On another occasion, Salman Farsi came and presented something in front of Rasulullah which was Sadaqah and the Prophet (peace be upon him) refused to accept it because it belongs to public, those who are poor, those who deserve it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not accept it. Salman presented Hadiya and the Prophet (peace be upon him) accepted it and distributed among his companions around him. These were the conditions which were fulfilled.”

“But Salman Farsi was still slave. There was one of the conditions that Salman should plant 300 date trees and it was the project of Jewish businessman or a feudal in Madina,” mentioned Imam and said, “The Prophet (peace be upon him) collected some funds for Salman and instructed his companions to take part in planting these date trees. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself planted these 300 plants of date trees in his own hands. Those trees remained for centuries. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Any Muslim who plants tree and whosoever benefits from that tree it would be Sadaqah Jariah for that person’. (Sahih Hadith Muslim), In another Hadith, it was mentioned, ‘If the time of Judgement comes and a plant is in your hands and you are sitting down, do not stand up before you plant this plant into the soil.’”

After completing the story of the journey of Salman Farsi to Islam, Imam Sulaimani said, “One of the beautiful messages of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is to protect the environment by planting trees, fruit trees and other trees and the Holy Qur’an is full of the verses about the trees and Islam has been resembled with the trees. All companions of Rasulullah, the Ahle al-Bait, the Ummah are also resembled with the trees. The Prophet (peace be upon him) instructed that when you break the fast, open with the fruit which is date. So this shows how important is plantation environment in Islam.”

Imam Sulaimani wanted to convey a message to the Muslim Ummah, to the world and to all mankind that “Let us save our planet; let us provide more food and Muslim should not wait for others to send food,” said the Imam and mentioned, “Today most of the Muslim countries get food from those countries where the governments do not believe in Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And those who celebrate the birthday, the Hijrah day, the Conquest day, they should stand up and follow the beautiful teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him).”

“And their hands should be upper hands and not be the lower hands; because the hands that give have always importance and the hands that always take, the lower hands, they always lose their values. May Allah the Almighty make us among those who give and those who help and support,” prayed Imam Sulaimani.

Mr. Maqsood Ahmed
The senior Adviser, Department for Communities and Local Government, Mr Maqsood Ahmed, read out the message from the Secretary of State, John Denham, which was as follows:

“I would like to congratulate British Muslims and Muslims throughout the world on this auspicious occasion of Milad-un-Nabi of the Prophet (peace be upon him). We in the Government would like to join you all in this joyous time of the year as families and communities across the country come together in joyful celebration of the birthday of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his life.

“This is a wonderful time to pause and acknowledge the important contributions that British Muslims have and are making in all parts of our society.

“I am pleased to be able to share this celebration with you all.

“Happy Birthday to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi Mubarak.”

Mr. Mohamed Ali, CEO of Islam Channel
Mr. Mohamed Ali, the CEO of Islam Channel said, “Dr. Pasha started his Dawah in this country in 1970s well before many people were born. I never turned down any invitation from Dr. Pasha, because really what I have learnt from him that he keeps doing things, he does not care what happens after that, whether people come or don’t come or whether people were happy or not happy, if he believes in something he does it.”

“That’s a lesson we learn from Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),” said Ali and added, “When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) went to Taif to invite people to Deen, to the faith, to the religion; no single person answered this call. In fact, people threw stones at him with the exception of a young slave who came all the way from Iraq and who offered the Prophet (peace be upon him), some grapes and waters and when Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) came back Allah the Almighty told him not to worry. Although the human being did not listen to you, although the human being did not accept your call to join the faith, you have to know that while you were praying a group of jinn, another creation, heard what you were saying and they accepted your call to the faith.”

Ali also said, “This is something we have to learn; we have to keep trying and we have to keep inviting people. We should not hide. Islam, this faith, is the last revelation, is the last religion to come to mankind.”

Ali also mentioned, “I told some Christian and Jew friends. I said you called the Torah, the Old Testament, the Bible the New Testament, I call the Qur’an is the Last Version, is the last update. When you buy software they send you an update, and this is the last update. People did not know about this update. The faith of Islam is the last religion to come to complete and compliment religions that were sent before. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is one of many Prophets. We make no distinction between the Prophets of Allah the Almighty.”

“This is something we learn. It is our mission,” said Ali and mentioned, “It is our duty that we convey the Message of Allah the Almighty to the 2.4 million Muslims but there are 60 millions in this country who are not Muslim. It is our mission; it is our duty. I cannot tell you one day, the Day of Judgement, Mr. Smith or Mr. whatever his name, will tell: ‘You, Mr. Khan, I was living next to your door for 60 years and you never invite me; you never told me about Islam’. We are not forcing people. But we have to convey the Message of Allah the Almighty.”

Banning of Dutch MP from UK Entry;Reaction and Response

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Dutch Freedom Party MP, Geert Wilders, was invited by Lord Pearson, a member of the UKIP Party, to attend a parliamentary session to discuss the European Union and Islam where the Islamophobic film ‘Fitna’ was apparently to be shown in the House of Lords. He was excluded by the Government from entering the United Kingdom for public security.

Now the question comes up why he was banned? Dutch MP Mr. Wilders describes the Holy Qur’an as a fascist book” and compared it to Hitler’s Mein Kampf. He has called for the Qur’an to be banned. Mr. Wilders also links the Islamic Holy Book to terrorism. The film ‘Fitna’ caused outrage across the Muslim world when it was posted on the internet last year. Mr. Wilders faces trial in his own country for inciting hatred. Earlier, this year, a Dutch court ordered prosecutors to put Mr. Wilders on trial for inciting hatred and discrimination by making anti-Islamic statements.

Under the circumstances, Mr. Wilders was denied entry by the Home Office amid fears his presence would endanger public security. The Government said it would not allow extremism and hatred to be spread through the communities of Britain.

The Home Office said there was a blanket ban on Mr. Wilders entering the UK under EU law enabling member states to exclude someone whose presence could threaten public security. “The Government opposes extremism in all forms,” it said in a statement, adding that it had tightened up rules on excluding those engaging in “unacceptable behaviour” in October.

“It will stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred, and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country.”

Reaction
The Home Secretary has the power to stop people entering the UK if she believes there is a threat to national security, public order or the safety of UK citizens. The British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, MP. said the home secretary made a decision on an individual case. “We have profound commitment to freedom of speech but there is no freedom to cry ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre and there is no freedom to stir up hate, religious and racial hatred, according to the laws of the land,” he added.

Commenting on the decision to exclude Geert Wilders Cohesion Minister Sadiq Khan, MP., said: “Actions that incite hatred towards an individual or group that undermine our shared values are unacceptable.

“The Government opposes extremism in all its forms and we will stop anyone who wants to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country. We act consistently in making decisions to refuse anyone entry, having taken all the factors in each case into account,” Minister Khan added.

“Our aim is to foster community cohesion in this country and we will do that by promoting a sense of shared values that includes respect for the rule of law, freedom of speech, equality of opportunity and respect for others,” said Minister Khan and added, “We have legislation in place to protect people from incitement and hate crime which we have and will continue to enforce.”

Commenting on the BBC’s Panorama programme shown last night (!7 February 2009), Sadiq Khan said: “The preventing extremism work that we have been doing with communities up and down the country is in partnership between local communities and local authorities. We have invested highly in some of the most vulnerable communities in our country.

“The Panorama programme made some very serious allegations about prevent work being used to spy on British Muslim communities. This is untrue,” Minister Khan also said.

Cohesion Minister Sadiq Khan also said, “Prevent is about stopping people from being drawn into violent extremism and it is about working with Muslim communities at every level to build their resilience and enable them to challenge robustly the ideas of those extremists who seek to undermine this country’s shared values. We continue to expand our relationships to ensure we are talking to, and working with, those at the grassroots. Our emphasis is on engaging with those within our communities who acknowledge the problem of extremism, who voice this acknowledgement and who are actively seeking to address the problem.”

“Parents of all faiths and communities want to keep their children safe from radicalisers. We are committed to helping them to do that, and the money we are providing to local authorities for Prevent work is being used to do just that,” Minister Khan observed.

Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said even with freedom of speech, there was a line to be drawn.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs committee, insisted that Fitna could incite violence in its audience.

Response from Muslim Parliamentarians
Labour Peer Lord Ahmed, who expressed his concerns to the Parliamentary authorities about Mr. Wilders’ visit, said he welcomed the Home Secretary’s decision to ban the MP from entering the UK. Lord Ahmed said “this man is facing serious charges of inciting hatred and discrimination in Amsterdam, and has incited hatred amongst the communities in the UK.”

“This film creates hatred, and further segregates communities,” he reportedly said.

Lord Ahmed continued, stating “we are peace-loving citizens of the UK and do not want to see extremist groups incite hatred. This is something we campaign against.”

Lord Patel of Blackburn said, in an interview with me, “The government is absolutely right. The person, in the name of freedom of speech, tries to divide the community on the basis of religion, should not be allowed in our country, where the government is trying to unite the all faith communities and also all heritage communities and belief in community cohesion.

“So, under the circumstances, how can any government of the world, allow the person who spreads racial prejudice and tries to divide the community,” said Lord Patel.

Support from Muslim Community leaders
The Muslim Council of Britain, the Umbrella organisation of the British Muslims, said Mr Wilders was “an open and relentless preacher of hate”. “Geert Wilders has been an open and relentless preacher of hate, there is little difference between his views and those of the far right. We have no problem with the challenge of criticisms to our faith, but the film that will be screened tomorrow by Lord Pearson and Baroness Cox is nothing less than a cheap and tacky attempt to whip up hysteria against Muslims. Mr Wilders' xenophobic and repugnant views has been identified by a Dutch court, and is now confirmed by his official exclusion to the United Kingdom. It now time to ask why Peers of Realm who promote such demagogues without any censure are allowed to be regarded as mainstream, responsible leaders in our community,” said The Muslim Council of Britain.

Dr. Syed Aziz Pasha, General Secretary of the Union of Muslim Organisations (UMO), said to me in an interview, “We, the British Muslims, are glad that our government has refused entry to the Dutch M.P. – Mr. Geert Wilders, because his presence will cause discord between faith communities. Our Union, for the last 39 years, have been striving to promote good relations with all faith communities. So, we do not want anyone to come to this country to create discord and friction in this multi-faith society. We are also very much concerned how some members of the House of Lords has screened this film in the House of Lords knowing fully well that it is a blasphemous film intended to incite religious hatred, which is legally forbidden in this country.”

“People have wrong conception about Holy Qur’an. It should clearly be understood that this is a literal Word of Allah the Almighty sent for the guidance of the whole mankind and unless the entire Holy Qur’an is completely read and understood it is impossible to take a few passages and make unwarranted comments,” said Dr. Pasha and added, “People of intelligence and fair-mindedness acknowledge the fact that the Holy Qur’an brought about an intellectual revolution. Europe which was in a state of darkness became civilized on account of the contribution Muslims made through the Universities of Saville, Granada and Toledo.”

Dr. Pasha also mentioned, “All the modern sciences owe a great deal of debt to the Holy Qur’an and the Muslims as a result of which Europe now is a civilized continent. One example which we can quote is that of Ibn Sina (well-known in the West as Avicenna) – his book on medicine was a textbook in the Universities of Europe for forty years. It is enough to say that the Holy Qur’an is the fountain head of all knowledge and humanity owes a debt of gratitude to Allah the Almighty for sending this unique revelation through Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to conveyed to the humanity at large.”

Dr. Pasha said, “We want to make it clear that women were treated like chattel in the Western world until the Holy Qur’an was revealed which raised the status of women to that of legal equality with men. It is travesty of truth to say Islam treats women as inferior. The Muslim women enjoy the life of dignity and honour and upholders of high moral standard.”

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, also supported the Home Secretary’s decision. “His fascist views are not welcome in our country where we pride ourselves as a multi-faith society,” he said. “This is not about freedom of speech but about stopping the incitement to religious hatred this man promotes.”

After he was sent home Thursday a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said: “The United Kingdom has the right, just like the Netherlands, to refuse people entry for reasons of safety and security. “Of course we acknowledge that right, but we do not agree with the way it is being exercised in this case.”

Opinion of the Press
The Observer editorially observed on Sunday, the 15th of February, 2009, “Geert Wilders’s short film Fitna is a poisonous dose of brutal propaganda, designed to foment fear and hatred of Muslims.”

“But that is not its only purpose. Mr Wilders, a Dutch MP, is touting his shoddy little oeuvre around Europe to provoke outrage, stoke aggressive reaction and thereby promote the real product – himself,” wrote The Observer editorially.

The editorial continued, “How sad then that the Home Office should oblige that ambition by barring Mr Wilders from the UK. How sad also that members of the upper chamber of parliament should conspire to erect the stage on which Mr Wilders can play out his deluded fantasy of a political crusade: Lord Pearson and Baroness Cox by inviting him to show his film; Lord Ahmed by asking that he be banned.”

Writing in The Sunday Times, on 15 February, 2009, Minette Marrin wrote, “Those who insist that freedom of speech within the law must be absolute are also missing the point; there are times when public order trumps free speech, as the wildest of libertarians must agree. Careless talk can cost lives and grown-up governments have a duty of pragmatism. So if the home secretary rightly judged that Wilders is a man likely and possibly anxious to stir up serious trouble, then she was right to have him put on the next plane home at Heathrow last Thursday. But did she judge rightly? Or was she guilty of the poor judgment, moral funk and cultural appeasement that we have come to expect of new Labour?”

She also observed, “It is difficult to avoid thinking the man must be as aggressively silly as his preposterous cockscomb hairdo; he has urged the Dutch government to ban the Koran as “fascist” and he is facing prosecution there for incitement to hatred and discrimination. He seems to be entirely the wrong man to make a balanced, thoughtful case about anything.”

About the nature of the film ‘Fitna’, Marrin commented, “Fitna is extremely unbalanced and, in that sense, misleading.”

Commenting on Mr. Wilders’ statement on the Qur’an, Marrin wrote, “To call the Koran “fascist” as Wilders has done is stupid, empty and needlessly offensive.”

Comparing this issue with the Salman Rushdie affairs vis-à-vis freedom of speech, Catherine Bennett mentioned in The Observer, on 15th of February 2009, “A year later, Norman Tebbit agreed that the “villain” Rushdie had “betrayed” and “degraded” Islam. On the Labour side, a lot of us will never forget Lord Hattersley, then plain Roy and deputy leader of his party, explaining why the paperback of The Satanic Verses should not be published. “The proposition that Muslims are welcome in Britain if, and only if, they stop behaving like Muslims is a doctrine which is incompatible with the principles which govern and guide a free society,” he argued.”

“Whatever “behaving like Muslims” actually meant,” Bennett raised the question and quoted from the former member of the radical Islamic political group, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Ed Husain, 34, who authored the book ‘Islamist’ and presently one of the directors of the controversial counter-extremism think-tank, The Quilliam Foundation. “Today, Muslim Ed Husain tells us: “Geert Wilders should be allowed in because this is a country that has pioneered freedom of speech, from Milton and Locke through to Mill,” wrote Bennett in The Observer on 15th of February, 2009.

The Foundation, set up ten months ago, which have been given almost £1 million of public money, says that it is working to tackle the extreme Islamist ideology coming out of mosques, universities and madrasas in countries such as Syria and Pakistan.