Islamic Education in The UK: A View to The Future

Islamic Education in the UK:
A View to the Future
Dr. Mozammel Haque

A discussion on the Islamic Education in the UK: A View to the Future organised by the Islamic Society of the University of Oxford, held at Jesus College, Oxford, on 6th of March, 2012. Professor Tariq Ramadan gave a lecture on this important topic.

Professor Ramadan at the very start said that we must start with three points: the main framework, objectives, principles and then end of objectives. “We are attempting to promote the principles framework and the objectives; but very often we want to do exactly the same as what is taught by other systems and simply add the word ‘Islamic’ and they are happy in the competition when the Muslims are doing as good as the other,” mentioned Professor Ramadan.

Professor Ramadan explained that for him, the first point is not simply to integrate within the current system, but more rather to contribute to the system for the better. He said, “Let us agree to disagree from the very beginning and identify the added-value and principles that we need to understand, promote and translate in our lives”

The second point, Professor Ramadan said, is to restructure how one can deal with the issues of good intentions and hope. “I have seen too many people having the good intention to have Islamic schools. Yet good intentions can destroy unless we identify the right way of achieving them,” said Professor Ramadan and added, “This is something that we learn from the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) life. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was always asking God to help him but he did not forget to think when comes to implementation and to ask the people around him, even non-Muslims, people from other faiths, to help him to go the right way. I rely on God but I need human intelligence and human agency anywhere in the West.”

People researching and working on education are developing new theories, trying for the best to devise a better. “If we neglect this new research and theories in the name of the fact that Muslims have the right principles, is this right? Having the right principles yet not deriving the right methodology is wrong because there is no way to understand the principles unless one understands how to implement such principles within a specific context,” argued Professor Ramadan.

Principles - the context and evaluation
Professor Ramadan talked of the principles, context and evaluation. He said that we need to evaluate; we must be positive. “To be a good Muslim is always to strive to have a good knowledge. This must relate to the principles, context and environment - where and with whom you are living and what you want to achieve there. In the name of the principles, one must consider the context within which you are living and then draw your conclusions, evaluate. We need to evaluate, we need to assess where we are,” said Professor Ramadan.

Speaking about the achievement over the last 25 years; Professor Ramadan said, “I would say that we must be positive of this because over the last 25 or 30 years what the Western Muslims, the European Muslims have achieved is great. Does it mean we should be happy with it? We should be happy with the constructive and critical ways and consider what must still be improved in the whole process.”

Some of the principles that we must rely upon
First The Tawheed
Professor Ramadan said, “Let me consider some of the principles which are important for me when it comes to Islamic education, the principles which we must rely upon. I think that it comes to the beginning of the revelation that we have really to understand the Oneness of God – Tawheed is essential. When God is talking to the Prophet (peace be upon him) the first dimension on which He (God) is relying about Himself Rabbul Alamin, the Rab is not exactly the way we translate it into English saying Lord.”

Tarbiyah
Professor Ramadan said, “In Rab there is the root of Tarbiyah; the Educator. He (God) is taking the Prophet (peace be upon him) and saying I am your educator; now this is the way I am taking you from here and now I want you to go there. So on the way towards Truth, on the way towards Me, on the way towards being close to Me, I am your Educator and you are going to be educated; and through this process you are yourself going to be the model. So you are the best example, because the Educator is God. So the Tarbiyah is essential.”

Upon what dimensions is this Tarbiyah based? Professor Ramadan said, “Allah is talking about Himself Ar-Rahman and you know how much the Prophet (peace be upon him) loved this Surah – Surah Ar-Rahman. Talim twice here between Allamal Qur’an. He taught Qur’an, the recitation and the revelation. He Created the Man and then Allamahul Bayan. He taught him how to express himself. Coming from God with this understanding in the Revelation and being able to be speak out be twice Allama. So Talim here is essential, is not only knowledge.”

Three dimension, Al-Ilm, Fahm and Fiqh
Professor Ramadan said, “So there is this dimension of Al-Ilm and wa-Faham. So, Al-Ilm which is the knowledge that you acquire and Fahm is what you understand from that knowledge which you have acquired. This is something which is the Dimension of Al-Ilm, al-Faham and we have a third word which is Fiqh. In fact, Fiqh is deep knowledge; and deep knowledge is the knowledge of the understanding of the revelation and the implementation of this revelation in your time, in your place to remain fit.”

Professor Ramadan continued, “So there are three dimensions, Ilm, Fahm and Fiqh. These three dimensions are important but that is still not enough; because as it was said, very often when we start talking about this; we think and in our system today very often when you speak about understanding, you speak about mind; your heart is understanding and this is a dimension which is so important in anything relating to spirituality.”

Principles: Mind, Heart and Body
Speaking about the principles of Mind, Heart and Body, Professor Ramadan said, “That in any Islamic education based upon the Islamic principles when you educate the mind, you educate the heart. This is something what we know and any teacher knows that you always get a better knowledge when you love the teacher. Mathematics, for example, is always easier when you love the teacher! So this is why the Messenger was loved; he was loved and he was the best teacher. At the same time, it is clear that there are limits - because we love you. You learn to teach us how to learn; in him we understand that it is out of love that we respect him though our mind is ready to respect because our heart is open to love.”

“This is the meaning of education but still this is not enough; it is not only this. Today we should also consider what we are acquiring from behaviour, psychology - it is not only your mind, your heart or even your body. Teach your body from everything that we have in our prayer. There is something which is hardly you educating the body. Now we have physical education; there is something which is deep in the way you are using and training your body to be closer. For example, the way you say salam, the way you greet people, the way you serve them - your body is learning and understanding something and this comes from psychology, anything relating to the relationship with your body, heart and mind,” said Professor Ramadan.

He continued, “It is a comprehensive approach; never neglect the body if you want the spiritual education; anyone who is just talking about your heart and saying that this is spiritual is missing the point; because what we learn from the Prophet (peace be upon him) is exactly this: Connect the mind with the heart with the body and understand that when the body is ready it is sometimes the body opening your heart, not always the opposite. These are the three dimensions of the principles that we have in Islamic education and it is part of something which is related to the meaning of things as you are saying education is mainly about meaning."

Basic Islamic Education: Food for Mind, Heart and Body
What would you like to achieve? “Understanding the meaning through al-Ilm, Faham and Fiqh is the very essence of the very simple part of the Hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him), when you get it right;” said Professor Ramadan and added, “If every dimension of the human being is right - your mind, heart, body - they have their voice and you must be very cautious to gear to every dimension of your being it’s right. So your mind must acquire the knowledge as much as your body must have food, as much as your heart used to get love and all these dimensions are part of the education. You will never achieve peace which is the very essence, the high objective of Islam; you will never achieve peace if you do not understand that education is all about being balanced; first the balance is to recognise that you have needs and then it is for you to look for and discover the answer to these needs.”

“This is part of what we must explore from the basic Islamic Education and this is why in considering human beings, in considering our children, it is the very meaning of dignity. To give dignity - give me the food for my mind, the food for my body and the food for my heart. Educating is all about this,” said Professor Ramadan.

Conception - Three Basic Rights, Basic Dignity
Having noted these principles of food for mind, body and heart there are three points which follow on from this. Three conceptions of basic rights and basic dignity. Professor Ramadan said, “When we are talking about this, these are the basic rights of any human being, any family, any Muslim-majority country, any community we must consider this: The respect of the basic rights, giving the dignity, the basic dignity to the human being.”

1) Autonomous: Giving Education to Walk Without
“What is the first consequence of this? The first is what we should do at one point in my life I am going to be autonomous; I am going to be mukallaf, mukallaf means without my father, without my mother, without my teacher, I am going to be asked by God; and you must teach me how to be autonomous, as the French philosopher noted, ‘I am not teaching you to think like me; I am teaching you to think without me.’ This concept is essential - that education is that I am giving you the means to walk without me, at one point on the Day of Judgement you are not going to return to me, you and I will be alone,” said Professor Ramadan.

He also argued, “Autonomy is something which is essential in our education; yet how can one be autonomous knowing only the text and not the context. For the protector, for example sometimes in considering Islamic schools, and also even within our families, we as parents protect our children in a way that when they are outside in the world they are not equipped to face the realities. So they are not autonomous, they only pretend to be just to please us. Yet when someone just pretends to be autonomous to please the authority, everything is lost. The authority and his or her way of teaching autonomy is wrong - it is not effective this way.”

“Autonomy is essential; are we today educating our children, boys and girls, to be autonomous, where autonomy means not only to be able to make the correct decisions but where autonomy is spiritually strong enough to face the challenges of this life today with their heart, their mind and their body,” said Professor Ramadan.

2) Knowledge of Context:
The second point connected to being able to be autonomous, is giving the knowledge of the context. Professor Ramadan argued, “If you only count Islamic education; if you know the Qur’an; if you know the Hadith; and you are not reading the world. By the way, the first revelation, when you start understanding the beginning of the revelation, when it is said to the Prophet (peace be upon him) IQRA iqra is read, it is not only read the text, then wal qamar; it all the world, it is changing your understanding of the world; these are signs. So we must understand the world within which we live as much as we must understand the Book. The Book is there to help us understand the world and we must look at the people around us.”

Professor Ramadan said, “I think that this is where our Islamic education in the West is to learn about the West. Learn about society, people and what it means to be autonomous in Britain now, today, not in Egypt 25 years ago, not in Sudan and other countries. This is the context”.

3) Valued Outside
Talking about Islamic schools, Professor Ramadan said, “Out of the Islamic schools in Britain, or wherever you are, if you have Islamic schools that are isolating our boys and daughters in a space where they are good there but not valued outside there is something wrong. In fact, I need to get the knowledge when I go outside to have a value; people are looking at me exactly when we are all like this. We must stop having idealistic hopes such that you are going to be a good Muslim, to get the good Islamic knowledge. I need to be valued; I need to have a value in the society. Good education is giving me a value.”

Which kind of added-value do we give to our young generation in Britain? What will you contribute; what will you give to this society; what is the value that you have as a human being, while raising these questions, Professor Ramadan said, “The only ‘I am visible because I wear the headscarves, I am visible because I have beard’, this is the opposite of getting value.”

Some of the Principles to Promote Islamic Education
1) Freedom
Professor Ramadan said, “Freedom is essential in Islam - many of the scholars when they talk about the fact that the Angels were prostrating in front of Adam (peace be upon him) for two reasons: First is knowledge and second is that it was free. He is a free human being. Adam was free; so he is free. This freedom is essential; we need to educate our children in a way they are free.”

“My first concern is freedom - not freedom to speak or freedom to move, more rather it is freedom of what you want to be, how you want to be - it is to be assertive, to be at one with your own values. You might not be free. You think you are free to follow, but I am free not to follow; I am able to say I don’t like it because I am educated to try to find my right answer. I think that we must be serious about this concept. Muslims are not serious about the question of freedom,” argued Professor Ramadan.

He maintained, “Freedom of what you want to be; how you educate your children to be get with this spiritual trend is important here. Then you also have the freedom to speak and freedom to ask questions. This is something which is missing very often in our mosques. Our Islamic education is all about ‘You listen. Listen because I am giving you the Qur’an, giving you the Hadiths’.”

2) To Question
Professor Ramadan said, “This is why I think we must also understand that if you want the right education in the West, or in Britain for example, you devise a course. You are not teaching the students to ask questions because all questions are legitimate, you call the students.”

Referring to the use of the internet today, he said, “We avoid questions about behaviour, about sexuality. How am I being protected if you are hiding the questions that are in my mind? I am colonised with questions and yet you pretend that these questions are not there. The only answer to my question is Aujubillah haram. Haram is not helping me. I am surrounded with all these questions so please don’t put me in a situation when I feel this is attracting me, where I feel I am wrong or I am a bad guy.”

“So start with normality and try to go to spirituality; from natural to spiritual; but not from bad. You cannot be at peace with this; visible thinking starts with this; firstly we must have the courage and secondly we must be active,” said Professor Ramadan.

Critical Thinking
1) Active - Ability to Speak Out, to Write; The Need for Writing; To be Effective
Professor Ramadan said, “With this freedom the second requirement is to be active; as it was said to be active means to be able to speak. We need to teach our children, our people, our students to speak out - we need to teach them also to write. I think that we need this writing for it is not only read, it is to write. To be effective and have value within our society, we must speak in order to be heard and write in order to be read.”

“It was also said to serve, which is exactly to serve as a contribution. I don’t like all this business about integration; integrate our school into the system; all this for me is awful. For example this school should contribute - yet you are what you give, the education which is helping our children to give; to give with your mind, with your heart and with solidarity,” argued Professor Ramadan.

But once again if you want to serve the society; Professor Ramadan enquired, “If you want to serve in Britain what do you know about the history and legacy of this country? What do you know about the critical questions that the British, the fellow citizens, have? You need to know these questions and this is I say that we must reconcile ourselves.”

“Many Muslims say that they respect other religions so the first respect to have is at least to learn about the other religions, to read about it. Yet what do you know about Christianity, Buddhism or other religions?” enquired Professor Ramadan and maintained, “It is a two-way process. We live in the West yet we are not doing the job as such and we are not teaching this two-way process - we must acknowledge and recognise that at the very least the knowledge of both us and the others is part of this process.”

2) Spirituality: Putting Meaning into Action
Speaking about spirituality, Professor Ramadan said, “For me when I speak about acting here, spirituality means action. Just to feel that you are close to God means that in anything that you do you put meanings into your actions. Never forget this, when you start by saying Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim, put meanings in actions. The objective of this is to satisfy God and serve the people and the best way to satisfy HIM is to serve the people. This is spirituality - this spirituality is not only to pray during the night. As I always repeat: Pray during the night in order to serve the people during the day - this is the way you serve God and yourself. By the way by serving and praying, this is the connection.”

3) Education is about Love
Professor Ramadan suggested that education is about love. “The last point also comes from education. I would like to highlight two points relating to this - I really mean that education is about love. Firstly you have to learn how to love your own parents, your family, your children and secondly you also have to learn how to love your society. When we consider ourselves in this country for example, how many Muslims (those who were either born here or who came later in their lives) already look at Britain and consider the people as ‘my’ own people and refer to them as ‘my’ people. This sense must come from the heart, not the mouth - you may say ‘I care about you and I care about this society’ but is this really the case? Whilst you may speak about it, how do you actually put your words into action,” argued Professor Ramadan.

“In our mosques, in our schools we keep on repeating us versus them. You can speak about this when it comes to morality but not when it comes to building a society,” said Professor Ramadan and mentioned, “All the Prophets (peace be upon them all) and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the last one, when checked and oppressed, he had to leave them and when he returned and he said, ‘My people, you are my people; and I am serving you even against your will. Why, because He (God) told me to do so. So I am serving him against your own will. You know why? because you are acting against your own benefit’. So the point for us in relation to education is for us to love the society that we live in, love the people and somehow translate this concept into our education system.”

Professor Ramadan concluded “There is one central theme here and that is that in order to share something with your society, you need to learn and teach about the arts - this includes beauty, poetry, tastes and culture because engaging with all these dimensions is a way of translating our love for our societies and our people in a non-verbal, a deeper way. Since the more that you celebrate beauty the more that you celebrate the Creator of beauty. All this can be summarised in one sentence such that ultimately education is about teaching and educating courageous people - those who are free, ready to speak out, ready to be assertive and courageous enough to be able to show the people around them their needs. The need of love could be perceived as a fragility and weakness, yet the most courageous people are those that admit that they need and those that say that they love. So the only right question to ask today might be: How many courageous people are we educating in our schools?”

Seminar on the Life of the Prophet peace be upon him and the UMO under Dr. Pasha

Seminar on the Life of the Prophet
(PBUH) and the UMO under Dr. Pasha

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Born in an aristocratic Syed family of Madras, brought up in a country where Muslims are minority and having basic Islamic education at home, Dr. Syed Aziz Pasha developed an ideological commitment, a conviction and mission to which he remained firm, unchangeable and unyielding till his death. He had a solid grounding to understand the importance of Dawah work to live peacefully and harmoniously with his cultural and religious identity.

This understanding became more effective and operative when he went to the United States of America for higher studies where he obtained SJD (Doctorate in Juridical Science) equivalent to Ph.D. in the United Kingdom. But when he came to the United Kingdom, the first thing he thought essential is to bring unity within the Muslim communities. But he also realised that to establish peace and harmony in a multicultural country like the United Kingdom, it is very much essential to understand each other, to know each other’s culture, belief, tradition and values.

Dr. Pasha chose once in a year to bring people of different religions, cultures, traditions and races under one roof to speak about the religion culture and belief of Muslims and their Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and that is the background of holding this Seminar on the Life of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Since the formation of the UMO, Dr. Syed Aziz Pasha, its former General Secretary, used to hold this Seminar on the Life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for the past forty years without fail. This is one item which Dr. Pasha never missed. As early as in 2009, Dr. Pasha told me in an interview: “Once I was in hospital and I asked my assistant secretary to carry on and he held the function.”

The UMO’s last Seminar on the Life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) organised by Dr. Pasha was in 2010. After that, he could not organise the Seminar in 2011. Since November, 2010, Dr. Pasha had been off and on hospitals and home. He died in the morning of Wednesday, the 23rd of November 2011.

In the Seminar on the Life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) organised by Dr. Pasha, among the distinguished guests, there were, besides others, Rt. Hon. Mr. John Patten, M.P. the then Minister of State, Home Office in 1989, Rt. Hon. Mr. Robin Corbett, M.P. the then Shadow Minister on Home Affairs in 1990; Rt. Hon. Mr. Jack Straw, M.P., the then Shadow Education Secretary in 1991. In 1996, nearly forty nations were represented at this celebration.

This year, in 2012, the UMO is organising again the Seminar, on the Life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) at the same place, Churchill Hotel, on Wednesday, the 29th of February, but this time the person who never failed to hold the Seminar to convey the Message of Islam to the Muslim community as well as to the wider society was not there, I mean physically. Both the Muslim and the wider society felt the physical absence of this dedicated pious Muslim, Dr. Pasha, who started and founded this organisation to bring unity among the British Muslim community and also to foster and develop good cordial and harmonious relationship with the wider society through interfaith dialogue.

Dr. Pasha told me in an interview, the purpose of holding this Seminar every year without fail was two fold, “We organised this function every year without fail for two reasons, said Dr Pasha, 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. 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.”

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, “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.”

Purpose of Holding Seminar on
The Life of Prophet (PBUH)
As the Seminar on the Life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was the last Seminar organised by the UMO under the leadership of Dr. Pasha in 2010, I am reproducing below in his own words the purpose of holding a Seminar on the Life of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Dr. Pasha said, “The UMO being the representative body of the British Muslims has, since its formation forty years ago, has maintained its tradition to celebrate the birthday of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) for two reasons, namely, 1. spiritual and 2. mundane. At a spiritual level ALLAH Subhanahu wa Ta’ala created the Noor (Light) of the Holy Prophet before any other Creation and designated him as the Seal of the Prophets and Mercy unto all creatures. This Noor was transmitted through all Prophets from Adam to all succeeding Prophets including Prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them all. ALLAH ordered all these Prophets and their followers to accept Islam as their religion and way of life. As our Prophet is the last in the line of Prophets, the responsibility of conveying this Message to the British people lies on the Muslims and the UMO has been performing this duty on behalf of the Muslim Ummah.”

At a mundane level, said Dr. Pasha in his press release of 2010, “The Divine Message that the Prophet brought is for the guidance of the whole of humanity guaranteeing a life of peace and tranquillity in this transient world and eternal felicity in the Life Hereafter. Historians, both Muslims and non-Muslims and Orientalists, acclaim him as the greatest benefactor of humanity. He is renowned for his mercy, compassion and magnanimity. He even forgave his enemies after the conquest of Makkah al-Mukarramah. After his emigration to Madinah al-Munawwarah, he promulgated a Charter of Madinah guaranteeing freedom of religion to minorities. In the historic Sermon delivered at the Farewell Pilgrimage he declared a Charter of Human Rights establishing the brotherhood of all mankind regardless of race, colour or ethnicity, raising the status of women to one of legal equality with men, abolishing usury to prevent exploitation of the poor by the rich and banning the consumption of intoxicants.”

Dr. Pasha said in his press release of 2010, “It has taken 1400 years of strife and suffering before the West has accepted the glorious Message of the Prophet and has adopted the United Nations Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mankind owes a debt of gratitude to the Holy Prophet for his enormous contribution which has brought enlightenment and civilisation. Islam is making steady progress in Europe and desperate attempts are being made in the media to distort the image of Islam as a religion of peace, justice and brotherhood. The whole world is watching that Muslims are not terrorists but they are victims of terrorism. The UMO for the past forty years has been encouraging Muslims to play their full role in the mainstream while retaining their religious and cultural identity.” (UMO Press Release on 2 March 2010 on the Birthday of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Picture: File Photo (from Left to Right: Rt. Hon. Councillor Alan Bradley, Lord Mayor of Westminster (locam tenens), Dr. Syed Aziz Pasha, General Secretary of UMO and Rt. Hon. Lord Sheikh of Cornhill at the celebration of the Birth of the Prophet (peace be upon him), function at Churchill Hotel, London, 16 March 2009);

Put Your Trust On Allah

Put Your Trust on Allah

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Human life is not only full of roses, there are also thorns. There are pain, sorrows and difficulties. Difficulty comes, calamity befalls and disaster happens in human life. These could be surmounted with patience, perseverance and complete submission to the Will of Allah. Believer will always put his trust on Allah.

The test of a Mu’min lies in his resolute steadfastness in trials and tribulations. That is why the Qur’an says, “Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: “We believe,” and will not be tested.” (29:2)

Putting one’s trust in Allah (tawakkul ala Allah) is the spiritual weapon that turns weakness into strength and few numbers into large numbers. It was also the weapon with which the Messengers of Allah faced up to the tyrants among their people, never being intimidated by their tyranny or weakened by their mischief, but said: “And why should we not put our trust in Allah while He indeed has guided us our ways. And we shall certainly bear with patience all the hurt you may cause us, and in Allah (Alone) let those who trust, put their trust.” (14:12)

Putting one’s trust in Allah means to take Allah as one’s Guide, following His commands and depending on Him, as He says: “(He Alone is) the Lord of the east and the west, La ilaha illa Huwa(none has the right to be worshipped but He. So take Him Alone as Wakil (Disposer of your affairs).” (73:9)

You should take Allah as your disposer of affairs, however, only after you prepare yourself and take every precaution, then go ahead in confidence that Allah will not abandon you. Putting one’s trust in Allah should by no means be taken to mean neglecting one’s work; abandoning the means that lead to the ends, ignoring the approved practices or waiting to reap unsown seeds or harvest unattended crops. It means what the Prophet and the Messengers before him did, i.e. doing one’s best and leaving the outcome to Allah, out of trust in Him, out of conviction in His promise and out of belief in His support.

No person by himself is capable of fighting against the current of misfortune, nor can he fend off the blows of disaster when they strike. This is because man was created weak and fragile. However, when in times of difficulty, the believer places his dependency and trust with his Lord; he knows that all difficulties can be overcome. “put your trust in Allah if you are believers indeed.” (5:23)

Human being has to be sincere to himself, to his belief in Allah and depend completely and fully upon Allah Almighty Alone. He can alone save from calamity and disaster. Live your lives according to this precept: Allah Alone is sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of our affairs.

If you have meagre means, if you are deep in debt, or if you are in any kind of worldly difficulty, call out: Allah Alone is sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of our affairs.

If you face your enemy and are alarmed, or if you fear the misdeeds of the oppressor, say Aloud: Allah Alone is sufficient for us, and He is Best Disposer of our affairs. “But Sufficient is your Lord as a Guide and Helper.” (25:31)

By leaving our affairs to Allah, by depending upon him, by trusting in His promise, by being pleased with His decree; by thinking favourably of Him, and by waiting patiently for His help, we reap some of the greater fruits of faith, display the more prominent characteristics of the believer.

When we incorporate these qualities into our character, we will be at peace concerning the future, because we will depend on our Lord for everything. As a result, we will find care, help, protection, and victory.

When Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) was thrown into the fire, he said, “Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and he is the Best Disposer of Affairs (for us).” Thereupon, Allah made the fire to be cool, safe, and peaceful for Ibrahim. When the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his Companions were threatened by the impending attack of the enemy, “they said: Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us). So they returned with Grace and Bounty from Allah. No harm touched them; and they followed the good Pleasure of Allah. And Allah is the Owner of Great Bounty.” (3:173-174)

On another occasion, our noble Prophet made the best arrangements for his Hijrah, but the unbelievers managed to reach the cave where he was hiding. “If you help him (Muhammad, peace be upon him) not (it does not matter), for Allah did indeed help him when the disbelievers drove him out, the second of two, when they (Muhammad, peace be upon him and Abu Bakr RadhiAllahu Anhu) were in the cave, and he, peace be upon him, said to his companion (Abu Bakr RadhiAllahu Anhu): “Be not sad (or afraid), surely Allah is with us.” (9:40)

This was also what Prophet Moses (pbuh) said to his people when Pharaoh and his soldiers were pursuing them and they were caught between the sea before them and their enemy behind them:

“And when the two hosts saw each other, the people of Moses said: “We are sure to be overtaken.” (Moses) said: “Nay, verily! With me is my Lord, He will guide me.”(26:61-62)

We are in need of this sort of conviction in facing the hardships and difficulties and we should trust that Allah is with us; and those who have Allah with them will never fail: “And if Allah helps you, none can overcome you; and if He forsakes you, who is there after Him that can help you? And in Allah (Alone), let believers put their trust.” (3:160).

Hajj - A Lifetime Journey to Grand Muslim Congress

Hajj: A Lifetime Journey to
Grand Muslim Congress

Dr. Mozammel Haque

ISLAM IS A PRACTICAL RELIGION which lays down a complete code of life. It makes various provisions for creating peace and harmony in the lives of mankind as well as in the universe. Peace and harmony can be achieved only when there is solidarity and universal brotherhood among human beings. Islam preaches this concept and puts it into practice through the unique annual assemblage of the pilgrims during Hajj.

The institution of Hajj in Islam is quite extraordinary and unparalleled. It is only Islam that has made the annual assemblage at one place, Makkah, an obligation for the capable Muslims from all corners of the world. In other words, it may be called the World Muslim Congress. This assembly has many distinctive features which no other gathering has and no other religion stipulates. The concept of unity and brotherhood is embedded in Islam in such a way that one is truly amazed to see millions of Muslims dressed in two white sheets of cloth gathered at one particular place, i.e. in Arafat during a fixed time on certain fixed days in the year. All human and man-made barriers and distinctions are demolished during that assembly.

We shall here deal with the aspects of unity and universal brotherhood which, besides others, are quintessential among the concepts of Hajj. First, let us take universal brotherhood. This universal brotherhood emanates from the following basic concepts and is demonstrated in a most authentic and brilliant manner here on this occasion:

Adam is the first man from whom all human beings have sprung up;
Abraham is the father of monotheistic religion;
Acceptance of all prophets as prophets of God;
Belief in all revealed books of Allah.

Thus, this acceptance of Abraham as the patriarch of the concept of Tawheed and recognition of the continuity of Prophethood from Prophet Adam to the Last Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and having faith in all revealed books keeps up a chain of faith known as Islam throughout the world. This binds the whole humankind into a bond of brotherhood whose genealogical father is Adam and the spiritual father Abraham. Thus Muslims believe in the continuation of the human race on earth. There are no conflicts and controversies in the monotheistic religion decreed by God. All Muslims (those who consciously and willingly surrender to the Will of the Creator) belong to this Ummah and therefore constitute a fraternity of faith. This is one way the Hajj conveys the message of universal brotherhood.

This aspect of universal brotherhood can also be noticed during Hajj when Muslims come from remote corners of the world and congregate in Makkah in the vicinity of the House of God, i.e. Baitullah. Though they might have come from the east or west, north or south, and all differences in colour, language, race and nationality notwithstanding, they find their oneness on the basis of their faith in One God, One Qiblah, One Book and One Prophet.

The practical training for this universal brotherhood starts from the local or neighbourhood level with the five times daily prayers in the mosque, which gets enlarged with the Friday prayers once a week. The circle is again made substantially larger during the Eid prayer, and it becomes internationalised transforming into a global gathering once in a lifetime. So the concept and training in universal brotherhood, which reaches its peak, starts from the very childhood at the local level.

As regards unity, Islam, first of all, removed all man-made bonds and barriers bringing all human beings into one global family tracing their genealogical origin to common parents and biological chemistry to one element, i.e. clay. Almighty God has laid down in the Holy Qur’an, “O Mankind, We have created you from a male and a female.” (49: 13) This establishment of absolute equality on the basis of their ancestral origin and biological composition removes all artificial differences between man and man.

The enforcement of the concept of Muslim brotherhood is the greatest social ideal of Islam. Islam places emphasis on unity and unifies mankind on the basis of one God, one Book - the Qur’an, one Qibla - the Ka’aba and one leader - the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Noble Prophet’s mission was to establish unity and peace throughout the world. The Islamic concept of unity transcends all other forms of unity based on territory, geographical boundary, linguistic and ethnic affinity. He united Muslims on the basis of faith, which is the Oneness of God, Islam.

On this vital concept was based the Prophet’s sermon in his last pilgrimage, which shows that Islam cannot be completely practiced until this ideal is achieved. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) unified and cemented the Muslim Ummah under the banner of La ilaha illallah Muhammadur-Rasoolullah by establishing the first-ever Islamic state in Madina, which later on took the shape of a grand Caliphate. Under the Caliphate the Muslim Ummah was unified and integrated. Thus the first concept of universal and worldwide unity was demonstrated by Prophet Muhammad more than fourteen hundred years ago having been guided and inspired by God for establishing unity and peace in the world.

Islam is essentially a community and group-oriented religion. So, the practical lesson in unity and equality first starts within the family, then in the neighbourhood, especially through the institution of five daily prayers in the mosque and still on a larger scale in the locality, during weekly Friday prayers, and then in much larger gatherings in the two Eid prayers and ultimately in the international or global gathering during Hajj. This very characteristic and feature of Islam demonstrates the universality of this religion and its heavenly origin which transcends all worldly barriers of race, colour, class and nationality.

Pilgrimage is the best occasion to bind again the loose threads, tighten them on the basis of belief and in the presence of God and frustrate the nefarious machinations of the enemies of the Ummah’s unity.

Another aspect of Hajj is making sacrifice in the way of God for the cause of Islam. As Islam itself is a religion of sacrifice, its different pillars also contain the same features and characteristics. It is a known fact that the Islamic or Hijra calendar starts with the month of Muharram and ends with the month of Hajj. The first month of the Islamic calendar, Muharram, is the month of sacrifice – a sacrifice made by the grandson of Muhammad, Hussain ibn Ali, who laid down his life at Kufa in the cause of Islam and its ideals. Similarly, the 12 months of the Hijra calendar, the month of Hajj, marks the remembrance of the sacrifice made by the Prophet Ibrahim for the sake of God and His Pleasure.

The Patriarch, the first Prophet of monotheistic religion, Islam, the Prophet Ibrahim was ready to sacrifice his most loved one for the sake of God. He loved his only son, Ismail, more than anything else. God asked him to sacrifice Ismail. Ibrahim was going to sacrifice Ismail, in the way of God by His Order. The Holy Qur’an explains the story of Ibrahim and his son Ismail thus:

Then when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: “O my son; I see in vision that I offer you in sacrifice. Now say what is your view.” (The son) said: “O my father; do as you are commanded; you will find me, if God so wills, one practising patience and constancy.” So when they had both submitted their wills (to God), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), We called out to him, “O Ibrahim; you have already fulfilled the vision; thus indeed do We reward those who do right.” (37:102-105) The Qur’an says: “And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice.” (37:107)

The sacrifices made by Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail for the love of God left an indelible imprint on the history of mankind. This sacrifice is still remembered and re-enacted during Hajj. Ibrahim left a glorious record of sacrifice to please God.

In modern times, sacrifice is symbolised by an act of slaughtering a camel, cow or lamb for the sake of God during the days of Eid-al Adha, i.e. starting after the Eid prayer till the sunset on the third day of Eid. Sacrifice is a strongly recommended Sunnah of the Prophet and was introduced in the second year after Hijra. The purpose of sacrifice is to remind oneself of the great sacrifice of Ibrahim.

The sacrifice of life and wealth in the way of God is the zenith of a man’s belief. God says: “By no means shall you attain righteousness unless you give (freely) of that which you love; and whatever you give, of a truth God knows it well.” (Al-Qur’an 3:92) This means that when something, which has been held so dear, is sacrificed in the way of God one may hope to secure God’s Pleasure. The verse tells us that to attain righteousness one has to sacrifice things, but to attain it in perfection one has to sacrifice things, dearer to one.

Every sacrifice and every effort is to be aimed at seeking God’s Pleasure. That God be pleased with us is the real capital of our lives and it is to win this pleasure that everything should be sacrificed. In the words of the Qur’an: “Surely my prayers and my sacrifice, my life and my death is for God alone, the Lord of the Universe.”

In the modern age, the pilgrims, when they start their journey to Makkah for performing Hajj with only two white sheets on their bodies leaving behind their wives, children, kith and kin and their wealth and properties, they practically exemplify their act of sacrifice for the love of God.

Hajj is the greatest training and practical demonstration of the spirit of sacrifice and the spirit of Jihad in the way of God. It shows that Islam does not end with giving some utopian ideals for the human life. It is not only a religion, it is the guidance for the whole mankind to shape their lives in this world and hereafter. That’s why God makes provision for the teaching and training of humankind in every quality through practical implementation.

Read more and more the Qur'an in its month of revelation

Read more and more the Qur’an
In its month of revelation

Dr. Mozammel Haque

The Noble Qur’an was revealed in the month of Ramadan (Al-Qur’an, 97:1-3.). The Qur’an was sent down in the month of Ramadan on the Night of Power Lailatul Qadr. (Al-Qur’an, 91:1-3.). It is the month of Ramadan that Allah has honoured by revealing the Qur’an. Because of this strong relation between the Qur’an and the month of Ramadan, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to read the Qur’an to Archangel Jibreel every Ramadan. I think this is the right place to discuss the purpose and objective of the revelation of the Qur’an, its importance, the campaigns against it and the do’s and don’ts of the Qur’an.

First of all, Allah the Most High, created mankind and gave him the gift of expression. For the guidance of mankind Allah sent Prophets (peace be upon them all) to every single community. In the words of the Qur’an, "There has been no community to which God’s messengers have not come" and "Muslims should make no distinctions between them." So it is the duty of a Muslim to honour all the prophets equally.

The Qur’an represents the culmination of all other earlier Revealed Books. The Qur’an is the last of the Revealed Books. The Qur’an is the first religious book in the world, which requires the belief in other revelations, a part of its Faith. This Sacred Book was revealed to the last Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the month of Ramadan. Allah Himself said in the Qur’an: “Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur’an, as a guide to Mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong).” (2:185). Allah the Most High has especially mentioned the exact date and month of the revelation: “We have indeed revealed This (Message) in the Night of Power.” (97:1) So the purpose of the revelation of the Qur’an was for guidance of Mankind.

The Qur’an is emphatic in proclaiming that Islam is the religion of Jesus, Moses, Abraham and the Prophets Jesus and Moses were not Jews but Muslims. "Surely those who believe (in that which is revealed to Muhammad Peace be upon him) and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabaeans – whoever believes in Allah, and the Last Day and does good, surely their reward is with their Lord, and there is no fear for them nor shall they grieve." (2:62). "A Guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and judgement (between right and wrong)." This is the most important characteristic of the Qur’an, the Book that Allah has revealed in the month of Ramadan. It is guidance for mankind. It is clear proof, clear proof of guidance and of judgement.

Before the revelation of the Qur’an, it was preserved and guarded from corruption in the "Mother of the Book". Allah Himself said: "Nay this is a Glorious Qur’an (inscribed) in a Tablet Preserved" (85:21-22). When Allah wanted to give this Trust to someone, the Heavens, the Earth, and the Mountains, i.e. other creatures of Allah, besides man, refused to undertake this Trust or responsibility. They preferred to submit their will entirely to Allah’s Will, which is All-Wise and Perfect, and which would give them far more happiness than a faculty of choice, with their imperfect knowledge. Allah says in the Qur’an: "We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it: He was indeed unjust and foolish." (33-72).

So it is the human beings who took the responsibility of the Trust without realising its importance. This Sacred Book was revealed to the last Messenger Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the month of Ramadan. The Qur’an is the revealed book of God which has been in existence for more than four hundred years and the Word of Allah is available in its original form. There has not been an iota of change in this unique historic record. Its originality and authenticity has been guaranteed by no other than Allah the Almighty who challenges in the Qur’an itself.

Allah said, "This Qur’an is not such as can be produced by other than Allah: on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelation) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt – from the Lord of the Worlds." (10:37). In another verse of the Qur’an Allah challenges, "Or do they say, "He forged it?" Say: "Bring then a Surah like unto it; and call (to your aid) anyone who can, beside Allah if it be you speak the truth!" (10:38). "Or they may say, "He forged it." Say, "Bring you then ten Suras forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever you can, other than Allah! – if you speak the truth!" (11:13).

Allah said in the Qur’an, "And if you are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant then produce a Sura like thereunto, and call your witness and helpers (if there are any) besides Allah, if you are truthful." (2:23) Allah places many verses before you. Can you produce one like it?

The world is challenged to produce a Book like it and has not produced one. It is the only Revealed Book whose text stands pure and uncorrupted today. Allah said, "Say: "if the whole of mankind and jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support." (17:88)

Since the revelation of the Qur’an, the enemies of Islam have been trying to distort it. Firstly, they said, it is not revelation, it is written by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Then they started attacking its authenticity and originality. In spite of their conspiracy, the Qur’an has been preserved in its original form.

The Qur’an is the only Book in the world which has remained for the past fourteen centuries pure without any interpolation or change and will remain so till the Last Day as Allah has guaranteed its purity. (15:9).

The purity, preservation and propagation of the Qur’an were maintained by two methods: memorization of Qur’an in Qur’anic schools and the recitation of the complete Qur’an in Ramadan. In the month of Ramadan every year the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked by Archangel Jibreel to recite the whole of it twice. It was a Muzakira between the two. Abu Huraira reported that Jibreel used to repeat the recitation of the Qur’an with the Prophet once a year, but he repeated it twice with him in the year the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed away. The Qur’an was recited in the Taraweeh for the first time during the era of Caliph Omar.

So far as the memorization of the Qur’an in Qur’anic schools is concerned, many Huffaz and Islamic scholars have been killed in different parts of the world at different times. But still there is no dearth of Islamic scholars who can recite the complete Qur’an from memory. Severe campaigns have been launched against the Qur’anic schools, which teach the study, recitation and memorization of the Qur’an. The Qur’an is the main Book of the Muslims; it is the duty of the Muslims to learn Qur’an, which contains their code of life and ethical values whose benefits have been experienced by mankind throughout the ages.

I have already mentioned the objective and importance of the Qur’an and how its originality and purity have been maintained. Our Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions dedicated their days and nights for worship. Their lives revolved completely around the Book of Allah, the Qur’an, reciting it in and out of Salah.

The Qur’an is the basis of the religion of Islam, and on the preservation and propagation of the Qur’an depends the very existence of this Faith. Hence the virtue of learning and teaching the Qur’an is self-evident and does not need further elucidation. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The best amongst you is he who learns the Qur’an and teaches it.” (Bukhari, Daud and Tirmidhi).

A great Islamic scholar wrote in his book entitled Toward Understanding of the Qur’an: “The present arrangement of the Qur'an is not the work of later generations, but was made by the Prophet under God's direction. Whenever a surah was revealed, the Prophet summoned his scribes, to whom he carefully dictated its contents, and instructed them where to place it in relation to the other surahs. The Prophet followed the same order of surahs and verses when reciting during ritual Prayer as on other occasions, and his Companions followed the same practice in memorizing the Qur'an. It is therefore a historical fact that the collection of the Qur'an came to an end on the very day that its revelation ceased. The One who was responsible for its revelation was also the One who fixed its arrangement. The one whose heart was the receptacle of the Qur'an was also respon¬sible for arranging its sequence. This was far too important and too delicate a matter for anyone else to dare to become involved in.”

“Not even the most skeptical person has any reason to doubt that the Qur'an as we know it today is identical with the Qur'an which Muhammad (peace be on him) set before the world; this is an unquestionable, objective, historical fact, and there is nothing in human history on which the evidence is so overwhelmingly strong and conclusive. To doubt the authenticity of the Qur'an is like doubting the existence of the Roman Empire, the Mughals of India, or Napoleon! To doubt historical facts like these is a sign of stark ignorance, not a mark of erudition and scholarships,” he added.

Be a good example and convey the Message

Be a good example and convey the Message
Dr. al-Shiddy at London Central Mosque

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Be a good example, be active, and convey the message, invite others to this exhibition, said Dr. Adil al-Shiddy, President of the Global Commission for Introducing the Messenger, in his Friday Khutbah. (Sermon), at the London Central Mosque, Regents Park, on Friday, the 17th of June 2011.

The Prophet – best example for all Muslims
“Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the best example for all Muslims We cannot find better than the Prophet (peace be upon him). He is the person who was caring for Muslims. Allah the Almighty said, ‘We did not send you but a mercy for human beings.’ Therefore, he is caring, patient, loving for the people,” said Dr. al-Shiddy in his Friday sermon and added, “Therefore; we should listen to his advice, to his consultancy.”

Character and Akhlaq of the Prophet
Dr. al-Shiddy in his Friday sermon spoke about the character and Akhlaq of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He said, “The Akhlaq and character of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is mercy, justice and being humble.” The khateeb advised Muslims to “follow those characters, apply them and implement them in our lives. Because of those characters there was good relationship between him and all the people in general and non-Muslim in particular. The Prophet loves people, stays with people. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The best men are those who give good and care for others, especially the non-Muslim.”

Dealing with non-Muslim
How to deal with the non-Muslim? The khateeb mentioned about the way Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to deal with non-Muslim. He said, “Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a good example to deal with non-Muslims. He was doing dialogue, debating, inviting them to his message - Islam. There are four levels: The first level is: knowing others; the second level is: acquainting with them; the third level is: cooperation and the fourth level is: taking and making allies with them; as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did in his life.”

While mentioning about the fourth level which is taking allies and making allies for the service of Islam, Dr. al-Shiddy said that even before Islam, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) attended and entered into covenant for the sake of the oppressed people. He was mentioning about the covenant Half-al-Fadul which Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made with the disbelievers of Makkah for peace and security in Makkah before the advent of Islam. Dr. al-Shiddy said, “Before Islam, he attended and entered into covenant for the protection of the non-Muslim, the people of Quraish, to support the oppressed. This covenant was a just one and ‘I wish to witness some covenant or treaty like this after Islam,’ the Prophet (peace be upon him) said.”

The khateeb mentioned a verse from the Qur’an where Allah the Almighty said, ‘We created you from male and female to get to know each other.’ As an example or evidence for knowing each other. After quoting the above verse from the Qur’an, Dr. al-Shiddy said, “Cooperate and acquaintance with them; knowing others, not harming others, especially those who do not harm you,” said Dr. al-Shiddy.

Convey the message of the Prophet (pbuh)
The khateeb mentioned something about command from Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The first command is to take the command; to convey his message. This is the responsibility for us to convey his message. This is a command for us. And it is the responsibility that we should shoulder.”

Dr. al-Shiddy then mentioned the second thing is honour, the honourable command; it is from the Prophet (peace be upon him); as command, to honourable command. The third thing or the other thing is being patient, being humble, and giving it and making it easier for us. It is not the whole religion; even though just for one time; it is not the whole religion but it is just making easier for us.”

While mentioning about the command of conveying the message of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the khateeb reminded Muslims about their forefathers. Dr. al-Shiddy said, “Our role is to giving the message as our forefathers take the religion, Islam, to the different parts of the world and now it is our turn to take the message of Islam forward.”

Be optimist
In the second part of the Sermon, the khateeb talked about the importance of Deen (religion). Dr. al-Shiddy said in his Friday sermon, “Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) all through his life was very optimistic, especially at the time of hardship and adversity; and also at the time of some of the battles when the enemies surrounding him; he was very optimist.” The khateeb mentioned the battle of the Trench as an example and said, “the consequences are all only for the pious people.”

Be confident
The khateeb admitted that the conditions of Muslims sometimes make us pessimist but he advised, “Be confident; the future is for this deen, for this religion, Islam. The future is everywhere for this deen as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said in one of his Traditions (Hadith), ‘people who are inhibited, disheartened, disappointed, and are pessimistic; they must not build any honour. Those despair, losing hope, are the character of pessimist, the disbelievers.”

Be proud of your deen, religion
Dr. al-Shiddy also mentioned, “Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was very optimistic. This is the message should be given to the youth to be confident; to be proud of their deen of their religion, Islam. We need to give confidence, pride of our deen, of our religion, Islam, to our youth.”

We should be a good example for others
Referring to those people who are engaged in preaching in the West, the khateeb said to them to be very active and follow the example of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Dr. al-Shiddy said, “All the Muslims you are here, particularly the preachers in the west, to convey the message of Islam to the others; to be very active. Take the example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as an example and the followers and the companions when they conveyed the deen everywhere.”

“Look at the graves of the companions. They are not in Makkah and Madina, but everywhere, in Turkey, in Asia, and in Africa. To take example of those companions, for the Tabligh, convey the message everywhere;” said the khateeb and maintained, “We should be an example, a good example for others; One thing, if you cannot convey, at least you apply Islam on yourselves.”

The khateeb also said, “It is a chance for us to be a good dayee by applying the character and akhlaq of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in our behaviour.”

The khateeb also said, “Lots of Muslim organisations pay a lot of efforts, time and money for many projects. But the best thing is you. Do a good example; others will look at you as a Muslim and consequently they will follow the teachings of Islam.”

In this Islamic Cultural Centre, mentioned Dr. al-Shiddy in his Friday Sermon, there is an exhibition on the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and it is a chance, he said, “for you to invite friends, neighbours for this exhibition, as it is an example of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).”

“Be a good example, be active, convey the message, invite others to this exhibition,” said Dr. al-Shiddy.

The khateeb concluded his Sermon by making supplication “praying for the Muslims everywhere, to protect them, Muslims here and some Arab troubled areas, and prayed to Allah the Almighty to protect them and stop the bloodshed in some places such as Syria, Libya, Yemen and other places.”

Exhibition Islam
Exhibition Islam was officially opened the doors to its permanent exhibition gallery in Central London. The opening ceremony for the exhibition gallery titled ‘Muhammad- A Mercy to Mankind’ was hosted on Thursday 16th June and was attended by over 150 prominent members of major faith and community groups from across the UK.

The Exhibition Islam team was congratulated at the launch of this three-year project to design and build a ground breaking permanent exhibition in the UK. Exhibition Islam was also praised for its continued efforts to provide the British Muslim community with a unique service that has been instrumental in changing perceptions of Islam and Muslims in the wider society and has benefited community relations nationwide, according to the press release of Exhibition Islam.

Lord Sheikh
About this Islam Exhibition, Lord Sheikh said, “The exhibition will convey the true message of Islam and will enable the visitors to have a better understanding of our glorious religion.”

“I am sure that you will agree that sometimes difficulties arise between communities as they do not have understanding of each other’s religion and the exhibition will certainly help in dispelling misconceptions and hence will assist in the promotion of a better understanding of Islam,” wrote Lord Sheikh and added, “A great deal of effort has been expended in preparation of the exhibits and these will certainly have impact in creation of good knowledge of Islam.”

The Islam Exhibition is a marvellous idea and a great opportunity for everyone to go to the Islamic Cultural Centre, London and visit the exhibition with friends, families and neighbours, both Muslims and non-Muslims, for having a better understanding and knowledge about the life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) as well as the Message of this glorious religion, Islam.

Speaking at the opening, Shahid Munir, Director of Research at Exhibition Islam stated: “This permanent exhibition serves many of these purposes in allowing the wider community to come together at this wonderful location in the heart of London. We hope that this permanent exhibition itself becomes a beacon from which wider initiatives can be launched to aid society in understanding the true message of Islam. It is little known that Muslims had interaction with the United Kingdom and Ireland over 1,300 years ago. Muslims have lived, ruled and contributed to Europe for over 1,400 years, helping to advance sciences and aid wider society.”

In this connection, I would like to advise people to contact Islamic Cultural Centre, London, about the opening hours of the Islam Exhibition before they plan to visit the exhibition.

Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Their Rights

Companions of the Prophet (peace
be upon him) and their Rights

Dr. Mozammel Haque

The importance of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the history of Islam and for the Muslim community is enormous. This first generation of Islam is really very unique and remarkable in the sense that they are the eye-witnesses of the revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet (peace be upon him); they are the ones who met the Prophet (peace be upon him) personally and saw everything happened; they are the eye-witnesses of the biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him); through them we got the text of the Qur’an; they are the ones who collected the text of the Qur’an during the life of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq; they are ones who did the second writing of the text of the Qur’an during the life of the third Caliph Osman and finally, they are the ones who presented the Qur’an to the Ummah as one Book. Thus, this first generation, the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is very important for us, for the Muslim community. This is one of the reasons, the Islamic Cultural Centre, London in cooperation with the Daw’ah Office in the UK held a Seminar recently.

Seminar on the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh)
A one-day Seminar on the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and their Rights, organised by the Islamic Cultural Centre, London in cooperation with the Maktab-e-Daw’ah, the Daw’ah Office in the UK, was held at the Library Hall of the Centre, on Saturday, the 26th of February, 2011. The Seminar was attended by the respected guests Professor Dr. Ghazi Makki, the Cultural Attache of Saudi Arabia and Yasser Shaban, a Counsellor at the Embassy of Egypt; Abdul Aziz Al-Harbi, Dr. Al-Hazmi and Dr. Sayyid from the Daw’ah Office in the UK and other brothers and sisters.

There were two sessions: in the first session under the chairmanship of Shaikh Saad Al-Jloud, there were two speakers; Dr. Ahmed Al-Dubayan and Shaikh Haitham Haddad who spoke on the ‘Reading in the Traditions of Ancestors’ Scholars about the Companions (RAA) and their Rights’ and ‘The Relationship between the Companions and the Family of the Prophet (pbuh)’ respectively. In the second session under the chairmanship of Shaikh Khalifa Ezat, there were again two speakers such as Shaikh Sultan Fayad Al-Hassan and Shaikh Mohammed Abd Al-Hadi Afdal who spoke on ‘The Superiority of the Mothers of Believers (RAA) in general and Mother of Believers Ayesha in Particular’ and ‘The Mother of Believers Ayesha’s Participating in narrating the Prophet’s (pbuh) Traditions’ respectively.

Welcome address by Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan
While welcoming the respected guests and other brothers and sisters, Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan mentioned about the importance and speciality of the Seminar. Dr. al-Dubayan said, “When we talk about the first generation, we closely talk about the biography of the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh), i.e. we talk about the history of the Qur’an; we talk about the Sunnah al-Sharifa; we talk about the beginning of our faith, ISLAM.”

“Our Seminar today is about the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh), Shahaba and Their Rights. This is very important because it is really a very fundamental piece of Islamic education for the young generation to know more and more about the first generation of Islam,” mentioned Dr. Al-Dubayan.

Speaking about the first generation of Islam, Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned, “They are the eye-witnesses of the Qur’an and the Qur’an revealed to the Prophet (pbuh); they are the eye-witnesses who met the Prophet personally and saw everything happened whatever we read in the paper about the Prophet (pbuh). It is very simple to say that they are the model for us; they are the models we have to follow; they are the generations, as I said, who conveyed the message from the Prophet (pbuh) to the next generation which we call historically tabeyeen and the next generation after them which we call tabe tabeyeen.”

While explaining the objective of the Seminar Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned, “Recently we find some books, some articles, some people who try really unobjectively to criticise this generation and they try to minimise what we know about their rights and what attitude we have to have towards them as a first generation of the Prophet (pbuh). I am saying unobjectively because I myself read some of these articles, some of these books which talk about the companions, written by some Orientalist and by some people in the modern times from the Muslim themselves either from the Muslim countries or from the Muslim communities. They really missed lot of the principles without understanding many objective things.”

“It is very very important for every Muslim and every Muslimah to know more and more about the Shahaba, the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and to know about their rights and to know how we should deal with this Hadith which actually we find in our Islamic heritage about the Prophet (pbuh) and about the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). Of course, when we talk about the Companions, we don’t mean only men; we mean also women. We have few thousands of women; they were the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh),” mentioned Dr. Al-Dubayan.

First Session
In the first session under the chairmanship of Shaikh Saad al-Jloud, there were two speakers as I mentioned earlier; the first speaker was Dr. Ahmed Al-Dubayan who spoke on the “Reading in the Traditions of Ancestors’ Scholars about the Companions (RAA) and their Rights.’ The second speaker was Shaikh Haitham al-Haddad, well-known in the Muslim community and a member of the Shari’ah Council who spoke on ‘The Relationship between the Companions and the Family of the Prophet (pbuh)’.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Dubayan
Dr. Ahmed al-Dubayan started with the first question: Who is the Companion of the Prophet (pbuh)? He dealt with this question elaborately and said, Muslim historians have different opinions and Muslim scholars have also different opinions especially among the Ahle-Hadith about the definition of the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). “But I think the best one, most of them have accepted that any Muslim who had met the Prophet (pbuh) and then died as a Muslim, is a Companion even if he met the Prophet (pbuh) even may be for one hour or two hours; he will be considered as one of the Prophet’s companion,” Dr al-Dubayan said.

Who are the Companions?
Dr. Al-Dubayan also elaborated by saying, “Every Muslim, who met the Prophet (pbuh) even for short time, is considered to be one of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh). This is actually for men and women together; so we have shahabis and shahabians, the male and female companions.”

Dr al-Dubayan also raised another question: How many companions we have? This is a very good question and sometimes we used this question to ask the younger generation at the secondary school: How many companions we have? Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “Actually we don’t have one book or one record in which we have all the records of the names of the companions or if we go to the biography of the Prophet (pbuh) or if we go to the collections of the Hadiths or Traditions of the prophet (pbuh).” Of course, at the end of his speech, he has given some statistical information about one of the biggest collections of the companions.

Their Classification
Dr. Al-Dubayan classified the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) into two groups: those who narrated the Hadiths and those who have only their names. Dr. Al-Dubayan elaborated this point saying, “If we read the biography of the Prophet (pbuh), for example, the battle of Badr, or the battle of Uhud, we find some names of the Companions in these two battles but we don’t find any Hadith from them. Either they were not at the beginning or they died early, so the next generation did not have enough time to talk to them or take Hadith from them or they were young. Whatever, actually we find some names but we do not find their names in the Hadith.”

Their Exact number
Going back again to the question Dr. Al-Dubayan raised earlier about the number of Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). There were different estimated figures about this. Quoting of the greatest Muhaddeshins, who said when the Prophet (pbuh) died there were more than 100,000 who saw him, met him and listened to him, men and women. Dr. Al-Dubayan also mentioned there is another Tradition from him, who said when the Prophet (pbuh) died; there was 114,000 Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). The person, who talked to the Imam, asked him, ‘Who are they’? ‘Where are they’?”

It is a big number, 114,000. Where are they? Then the Imam said, ‘These are the people of Madinah, people of Makkah, people of the villages between Makkah and Madinah and between who came from the desert and between Makkah and Madinah and met Prophet (pbuh) and those who conducted with him the Farewell Pilgrimage. There were more than 100,000; they listened to him, they saw him especially when the Prophet (peace be upon him) standing in Arafat and delivered the famous speech, the Sermons on the Mount of Arafat, the Farewell speech, which we all know in the history. So all those people who met him we can estimate the number 114,000,” mentioned Dr. Al-Dubayan.

Then Dr. Al-Dubayan mentioned that the names of the Companions themselves were kept in the Seerah of the Nabubiyah, in the Prophet’s biography. He mentioned that the first book or biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was written by Muhammad ibn Ishaaq, who died in 151 AH. which is 768 according to the Gregorian calendar; i.e., in the 8th century. He is the first one who actually collected all the Ruayat or Traditions about the biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as one collection. Of course there were many before; but they were really separate traditions to collect this as one story, Muhammad bin Ishaaq who started to do this.”

These are the reasons, maintained Dr. Al-Dubayan, Muslims love and respect the Companions. There is no doubt that the message of the Qur’an is the last message, the last revelation from Allah the Almighty. We believe that the Qur’an is the last book revealed to Mankind. Allah the Almighty said in the Qur’an He is going to protect this Qur’an and He will guarantee the continuity of this. Dr. Al-Dubayan said, “The first generation of the Companions were very straightforward, they were honest, reliable. Without them, the continuity of the Message is not possible.”

Another point which Dr. Al-Dubayan wanted to make clear is about the Companions. There is a wrong notion about Ahle Sunnah and Ahle Jamaah. “We don’t believe that Shahabas are masumin, they are protected from doing sin; no. They are human beings. They can have a mistake,” said Dr. Al-Dubayan and mentioned, “What the Ahle Sunnah said is that Shahabas are all straightforward and we love them; we respect them but we don’t say that they cannot commit sin. This is not correct; this is wrong. And this misunderstanding many of the writers has especially in the modern times.”

Speaking about his attitude to the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Dr. Al-Dubayan said “two things, their straightforwardness and our mahabbah, the appreciation and love that we have for all of them. Allah the Almighty rewards them for the things they have done for all of us; because without them, we will never be able to have the Qur’an; as we have it today; and the Sunnah as we have it today; and this clear picture that we have about the Prophet (pbuh) today.”

Shaikh Haitham Haddad
The next speaker of the First session was Shaikh Haitham Haddad who spoke on the Relationship between the Companions and the Family of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Shaikh Haitham said, “We need to understand this topic because many Muslims and Orientalist attacked the Companions by claiming that there was tension and dispute between the Companions (RA) themselves. They capitalised on the dispute that took place after Ali ibn Abu Talib (RA) between some of the Companions and the camps of Ali ibn Abu Talib and the camps of Ayesha (RA).”

Shaikh Haitham through many narrations demonstrated how much love the Companions had among themselves and how much the Companions used to love and had love for the members of the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him). “We have seen from many narrations the nature of relationship between all Companions and even in particular the respect the Companions used to show, in particular, to the family members of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Then Shaikh Haitham mentioned about some sects who focussed on the relationship between Abu Bakr (RA) and Omar al-Khattab (RA) in particular with Fatema (RA) and in particular the relationship between Abu Bakr and Ali ibn Abu Talib (RA).. Again after quoting many narrations, Shaikh Haitham said, “There are many narrations and we can go on talking about those narrations I mean the statement from the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him).”

Practical Celebration of the Prophet's (pbuh) Birthday

Practical celebration of the Prophet’s (pbuh)

birthday through adhering to Sunnah and Islam

Dr. Mozammel Haque

This is the month of Rabi al-Awwal, the month when Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was born in Makkah al-Mukarramah in the 7th century. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was the Last and Final Prophet sent by Allah the Almighty to this world, to the universe as the Mercy for the Mankind. The Holy Qur’an, the last revelation, was revealed by Allah the Almighty to the Prophet through archangel Jibrael. Muslims throughout the world celebrated and is celebrating his birthday. Now what is the best way to celebrate Prophet’s birthday? I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, the former President of the Jeddah-based King Abdulaziz University, the ex-Secretary General of the Makkah-based Muslim World League and presently Secretary General of the International Islamic Council for Da’wah and Relief (IICDR).

“The occasion of the birthday of the Prophet is celebrated emotionally everywhere. But the practical celebration is to follow Islam and adhere his Sunnah in our life, in all spheres of our life. We adhere to his Sunnah properly. He is not only our spiritual leader; he is our guide and he brought the light to this universe. Then we have to encourage people to come closer and closer and to strive to live his life,” said Dr. Naseef.

“But unfortunately in many Muslim countries the celebration is through the public holidays, the songs and dances,” lamented Dr. Naseef and said,” There should be love for the Prophet and what is the essence of love? If you love Prophet (peace be upon him), you have to follow him and to follow him is to adhering to Islam.”

Dr. Naseef also mentioned, “If you look for how many people are adhering to Islam; you will find very very few. That’s why; our Ummah is suffering today and very much below the life of Islam.”

Dr. Naseef prayed and hoped, “Insha Allah, I ask Allah the Almighty to guide Muslims to come closer to the banner of Islam, to the Sunnah of the Prophet and Muslims should strive hard to uplift the Ummah from its present situation. Allah is Great and He will do it Insha Allah.”

Islam spreads, not by Force, but by Good Behaviour

Islam spreads, not by force
but by good behaviour

Dr. Mozammel Haque

Islam spreads, not by force as alleged, but by good behaviour, Akhlaq in Arabic. You can win hearts by sweet words, not by harsh words which destroy your credibility because unkind words hurt the hearts of the people which you are keen to win. Da’wah is not as simple as people consider it so; because it is something to deal with heart, feeling, love, affection and psychology. One can knock down the house of friendship in one second which has taken years to build. That’s why, the small piece in the human body, the tongue, is very important in the whole body; it can take you to the Heaven or drop you in the Hell-fire.

There is one person, I know, though he is a scientist by profession, loved by everybody, from the King at the top to the man on the street, the poorest of the poor, at the bottom, due to his Akhlaq. People say about him that “he is a Rajul Saleh, the good man.”

He is Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, Professor of Geology, at King Abdulaziz University, former President of King Abdulaziz University, ex-Secretary General of the Muslim World League (Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami), former Deputy Chairman of the Majlis-e-Shoura of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and presently, the President of the World Muslim Congress and Secretary General of the International Islamic Council of Dawah and Relief (IICDR). He travelled most of the countries of the world; met and discussed many issues with the Vatican Pope and with the Secretary General of the United Nations. This is the Akhlaq we have to cultivate.

I used the word, Akhlaq, in the beginning; because it is a word which stands for a very wide and broader meaning. It conveys the combination of the words, gentle tongue, soft heart, fellow feeling, love and helping attitude, in short, good conduct and good behaviour. There is a proverb in English, courtesy costs nothing. This is one thing which we have to learn when we want to do Da’wah.

However, Da’wah is still considered to be the responsibility of every person, in the narrower sense of the term, which means you have to call people to do good deeds and restrain people from doing harmful or wrong deeds. In that sense, no doubt, Da’wah is easy but it involves many things such as negotiation, communication and engagement and to do this sort of things one needs proper education, training and experience. That’s why, one of the speakers at a recently held international Da'wah Conference at Hilton Paddington, Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick emphasised on three things: Talim, Tablig and Tatbiq. Basic knowledge on Qur’an and Sunnah and some education and training is essential which requires at least spending some of their time on that. Not only that, it also needs some training on how to communicate with wisdom, tact and patience.

After saying all this as an introductory remark, I would like to report what the most distinguished and renowned scholars of the world have to say about engagement and how to do Da’wah and what are the essential requirements and mechanism of Da’wah. Before I start to report that, I must have to say and acknowledge my gratitude to Sir Iqbal Sacranie without whose efforts, it is quite impossible for me to report this. So I am grateful to him. I expect our younger generation to learn from their elders.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie
While speaking about the issue of engagement, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, the former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and presently Chairman of Muslim Aid, said at an International Da’wah Conference in London on 16th of January, 2011: “I will talk on the policy of engagement as a part of the work related to Da’wah. The very basic concept of engagement within the Muslim community and outside must always be paramount in ensuring it meets the criteria of the message of Holy Qur’an and supported by the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). i.e. the Qur’an and Sunnah need to be the pivotal in that engagement. Once this is being clear then I think it is sufficient to meet, to discuss with any part of the society.”

Mentioning about the Muslim population of the UK which is about 3%, just over 2.5 million and the responsibility to convey the Message of Truth, of Islam to the wider community, to the wider society, Sir Iqbal enquired, “How can it be done?” and replied, “Of course this evening we are listening the distinguished scholars and they will go into depths. We are going to hear from them the key topics – how it is being done effectively in different parts of the world or in the West and in the Muslim countries.”

Muslims have been living in this country for the last 40 years and some of the brothers would have experienced in some way or other that we are not being recognised as who we are; of our faith; said Sir Iqbal while mentioning about the issue of identity and added, “We are usually being recognised as non-White persons, as part of the Black community; as part of the Asians, of the Sub-continent. But the issue of faith does not come in; that is realised much earlier just before the formation of the Muslim Council of Britain, i.e. look as we are. But how one judges a person; the one’s actions, the one’s deeds; but what motivates this actions or deeds; but, of course, the issue came in, it’s the issue of faith.”

“Faith plays a key role in terms of how you behave in the society and how you interact and what benefit you want to achieve for the welfare of the society at large." said Sir Iqbal and mentioned, “Surely, it was about time to reflect and it is crucial that the recognition of faith comes in. And that was the question of religious affiliation.”

After narrating the long story about the immense discussions, deliberations, meetings and conferences, Sir Iqbal mentioned, “The one aspect which became so important is to address the need of understanding of what the faith is all about.”

After narrating the whole story of the recognition of faith as a fact, Sir Iqbal said, “The message coming out is that through that engagement, through the wider society, through the people of power whether the Government, the Councils or the people of other faiths; once you could mention them that our faith is not a religion that causes harm but a religion that is for the betterment of mankind and how that is come in.”

The next question which Sir Iqbal mentioned which is absolutely important, which I have mentioned in my introductory remarks “that is absolutely vital and that is the message the way we convey ourselves; the behaviour. The time God Almighty told Moses when you meet Pharaoh you have to be conveying the Message of Islam to be very gently and in proper manner. The tradition of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he was with the Jews and the Nasarah how did he engage to convey the message across. These are the practical examples that one’s beliefs is important for us putting into our daily lives when we engage.”

“At the present time we are experiencing the concern that we see from certain sectors from the media, from the neo-con the extreme brand is to denigrate deliberately our faith by coming up with the examples of the situation of Denmark, of Cartoons, some articles that vilify our beloved Prophet; they come with different ideas and games,” mentioned Sir Iqbal and said, “This is the time Insha Allah, the Message of Deen has come out with very positive way and constructive way as we see through IERA. This will automatically bring out the better understanding.”

Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick
The next speaker, renowned Da’wah worker, spoke extensively on how to engage. Dr. Abdullah Hakim, Historian, Lecturer and Media Consultant, said, “It is an invitation; it is just giving of a message, it may be a discussion, or but no one understands that is coming out from the field and really looking back at the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and those great duwat of Islamic history it is that the Sheikh has said that Da’wah is encouraging people to goodness and guidance; calling to the good and forbidding the evil in order that you manage yourself to get the best and would be happy and enjoy the life of this world and the Hereafter.”

Foundation of Da’wah laid by the Prophet
(Peace be upon him)
“So really Da’wah is not just a specific engagement, it is a whole process and we need to be giving it to look Da’wah as a process and the best example of that is our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). So we got from the Seerah and from a series of Duwat who led all the people of Da’wah coming from Madinah,” mentioned by Dr. Abdullah Hakim and said, “They were engaged in three major activities: right from the beginning. This is the establishment of the foundation of this encouragement.”

Dr. Abdullah Hakim mentioned, “The first great activity done by the Prophet (peace be upon him) was the establishment of the House of Allah and by establishing the House of Allah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was establishing, we will call today, the all-purpose Islamic centre. So within this structure there was not only Islamic prayer but there was education, there was dialogue, there was engagement, there was even political town hall meeting going on within this structure. So the essence of Da’wah is coming out of the House of Allah the Almighty which is the centre of the community.”

“The second great activity done by the Prophet (peace be upon him) was to strengthen the relationship of the believers one to another. This is really important, because people who enter Islam need to enter into community where there is Islam and brotherhood. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) established this relationship between the believers and bringing them together; they shared their livelihood, they shared their lives. So they became living collectively, they could take in people who were coming from outside,” mentioned Dr. Abdullah Hakim.

Dr. Abdullah Hakim continued, “The third major activity was strengthening the relationship between Muslims and people of other faiths; and Prophet (peace be upon him) laid down in this case the Covenant of Madinah and this was the first time that a powerful majority group recognised the relationship of minority people within the structure. So the people of other faiths, the Jews of Madinah was allowed to stay within their religion and they were part of the society with their rights and responsibilities like the Muslim themselves.”

So with these three great activities, Dr. Abdullah Hakim maintained, the Prophet (peace be upon him) established the basis of this encouragement of humanity looking first to the Creator within ourselves and then keeping that relationship with other faiths.

While narrating how the foundation of Da’wah laid by the Prophet (peace be upon him) Dr. Abdullah Hakim also mentioned that there is another definition of Da’wah which is “Da’watul Islamia”. “It is something, the real Da’wah; the process of Da’wah the whole picture is to spread the message to the people, to teach them what it is and to put it into practice in real life. So it is not just words; education involved in it; it comes into culmination through practical application in life itself,” said Dr. Abdullah Hakim.

Mentioning the background of Da’wah, Dr. Abdullah Hakim said, “The Prophet (peace be upon him) sent companions for Da’wah. In his Farewell Pilgrimage Sermons at Arafat over 100,000 people, Prophet (peace be upon him) was telling them those are present ‘you should take this message to those who are absent’. So most of his Companions died outside Hejaz. They spread Islam to different parts of the world. This was not done intellectually. It was an engagement; an interaction with society.”

Spread of Da’wah to al-Andalus
Then Dr. Abdullah Hakim narrated his recent experience of the discovery of the spread of Da’wah and which is one of the best example for Europe itself. He found this recently in another journey that took him to Andalus, to Spain and Portugal. He stated, “That the leader of Muslims in North Africa, Musa ibn Nusseir, responded to the call of the monotheistic Christian people and Jewish people who were being persecuted in the Iberian Peninsula. He responded to this call and Tariq ibn Ziyad went across and engaged with those who were in oppression and became victorious. As Tariq and Musa went through the country the people opened up their doors. No resistance; historians looked at why is this?”

“It is not because of large army; it is not because of terrible weapons; it was because they were establishing justice; they were lowering taxes; and they were also recognising people from where they were. So the Jewish people were allowed to stay on their faith. Christian people were allowed to stay on their faith; and what is interesting of this point of history is that it is about 40 years period of total freedom inside the Iberian Peninsula the people have not known for centuries,” mentioned Dr. Abdullah Hakim and said, “Within that 40 year period people realised that they needed direction; they really needed to understand what are the message they brought to us; who are the people who are leading Islam and this is where the great leaders claim should be recognised, should be written in golden letters in our history, is Abd-ar Rahman ibn Mu’awiyah ibn Hisham.”

Abd-ar Rahman ibn Mu’awiyah ibn Hisham was the last of the great Umayyyad’s leaders whose mother was from North Africa from Berber people. Dr. Abdullah Hakim said, “When we look at his life, we find during his period that he ruled he was able to not only establish Islam as a way of life; but thousands of people actually embraced Islam on his hands. And I was shocked to find out at the society that majority of people who accepted Islam and was practising Islam in al-Andalus; they were not Berbers, they were not West Africans, they were European peoples who embraced Islam.”

Tabliq, Taleem and Tatbikh
The question then comes why they embraced Islam? Why they changed their life-styles? Dr. Quick said, “Remember the principles, Tablig, Taleem and Tatbikh. It is reported that he did not locked himself away at the palace; he would go down to the streets and would feed the poor, would interact with people; he would attend funeral prayers, he was concerned with the people within his society itself and one of his first acts was to bring water into the city.”

“Abd-ar-Rahman made his capital Cordoba and one of his first acts was to bring about water into the city. Through the use of aqueducts he brought in water, which developed irrigation and he begun to change the quality of lifestyle of the people. The presence of running water, of fresh water is crucial point in raising the standard of living of people of any society,” said Dr. Quick and mentioned, “It is also reported that following this he negotiated with the Christian people of Cordoba. He did not take over their Cathedrals that used to be the temples; he bought the Cathedrals for 100,000 dinars. He bought from Christians who allowed him to establish in other places the places of worship in the other parts of the city. He lifted taxes of the people within the society; established Masjids as an educational centre and a spiritual centre. It is interesting because this man was penetrating inside. This is the real Da’wah.”

The next major act he did is through education. “Abd-ar-Rahman established educational institutions for young people in society; he tried to help all young people in the society to learn to read, write and study arithmetic and also those who were Muslims and those who were interested to study the Qur’an and Hadiths. So education was encouraged,” said Dr. Abdullah Quick and mentioned, “He also encouraged trades. People should learn trades and he increased types of trades that the people were learning. Not only the normal trade that we get in the society, but he introduced paper-making; glass-blowing, porcelain development and weaving. He took the society into another stage and gave opportunity to the people of employment.”

Welfare of the People
Dr. Abdullah Quick said, “Purification of water; education, employment, selfless leader who would come down and engaged with people. We find that he developed beautiful gardens, he opened up public baths; he established Madrasahs within the society. We find following this, he also engaged in mass agriculture. So he encouraged Muslims to be involved in agriculture and they studied lands and introduced those fruits and vegetables which would be suitable for the climate of al-Andalus. He also introduced peaches, pomegranates, grape fruits. So the society begun to bloom; he raised the status of the people and they were being engaged in another level.”

“He did not compel the Christians or the Jews to accept Islam. As one of the followers of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) he developed toleration. It is reported that this was one of the greatest periods of Jewish literature. The great Jewish scholar, Mamum Maimonides, lived during this period. The Christian Kings and Queens sent their children to Toledo, Granada, Seville, and Cordoba; for higher education and through this higher education and advancement made by Muslims during this period, Europe actually became renaissance. We understand now with the re-analysis of history this was not actually the dark ages of Europe; it was actually the golden age,” said Dr. Abdullah Quick and added, “This is not Moorish history in Spain; it is European history; and it is important for us to understand that many of the great scholars of the period would have accepted Islam, not through compulsion but through upgrading their lives.”

Dr. Abdullah Quick also mentioned, “Islam was spread by people showed a superior form of living; highest standard of living; tolerance of other people; God-consciousness in the time when people were losing their faith. So this is a beautiful example of Da’wah in its essence. Remember the first definition, when you look at the word Khair in Arabic, goodness; it is not goodness that is something which is opposed to bad. It is the general welfare of the people. So we understand from this that the process established by the Prophet (peace be upon him) which was taken on by the scholars, by activists, by great leaders moving to the outer world. This is the real process of Da’wah. This is the process whereby the words become actions; people begin to see that the problems they are facing in the society at their pointed time can be solved by submission to the Creator of the Heavens and the earth.”

Islam has gems of Wisdom
Dr. Abdullah Quick said, “As a basic, the Talim, Tablig and Tatbikhs, spreading the message to the people; getting them to understand, educating them, opening up our doors, providing resources to the society to understand what Islam really is and finally the Tatbikhs, that is practical application of Islam in dealing with the real problems of the societies. Today’s world is going through tremendous crisis, we are in economic recession; we are facing with our families, alcoholism and illegal drugs destroying our population. Racism is on the rise; confusion is alive within people on the concept of Creator; there is rise of magicians; there is rise of cults in societies; there is spiritual vacuum; and so Islam has gems of wisdom. And it is really for Muslims for those who are holding this message, these beautiful gems of wisdom, to first put into our own lives and then encourage people, not through force but through active sincere engagement.”