Download Commentary on Islam

I seek protection of Allah against Satin,
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Firstly, I would like to greet you all with the Islamic greetings; May peace, mercy and
blessings of Allah be upon all of you.
Secondly, I would like to thank you all, especially the organizers for the invite and the
opportunity to speak in front of you today.
Thirdly, I would like to explain the word Allah as I have used it three times already. Allah is
Arabic for God. One might question, why didn’t I use the word God when speaking
English? Is Allah a proper noun, like Jesus or Mohammed (May peace and blessing of Allah
be upon both of them), or a descriptive title, like God?
The simplest answer would be that the word Allah cannot be translated in any other
language and therefore, we refer to our God as Allah as He Himself have chosen that. In
fact, we worship the same God as the Christians and the Jews. Another reason is that a
person can play mischief with the word God e.g. if you add the letter “s” in front of word
god, it makes it gods which is a plural and one cannot do that with the word Allah. If you add
“dess” in front of god, it makes it goddess, a female god. Allah does not have genders and
there is no such thing as a male Allah or a female Allah. Other examples are godfather,
godmother and that is the reason us Muslims prefer calling our God with the Arabic word
Allah instead of the English word as it is not the proper translation.
I would like to start todays talk with the translation of seven verses from the holy Quran, the
holy book of the Muslims from Surah Maryam (Verse 45 – 51). These verses translates to;
When the angel said, ‘O Mary, indeed Allah gives you the good news of a word from Him,
whose name will be the Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and in
the Hereafter, and of those who are near to Allah.’ ‘He will speak to the people in the
cradle, and in old age, and he will be of the righteous.’ She said, ‘My Lord, how can I have
a son when no man has touched me.’ He said, ‘So (it will be,) for Allah creates what He
wants. When He decides something, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is. And He will teach
him the Book and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel. And (will make him) a
messenger to the Children of Israel (saying), ‘Indeed I have come to you with a sign from
your Lord. I make for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then breathe into it, and it
becomes a bird by the permission of Allah. And I heal the blind and the leper, and I bring
the dead to life by the permission of Allah. And I inform you of what you eat and what
you store in your houses. Surely, there is a sign for you in that, if you are believers. And (I
have come) confirming the Torah that was (revealed) before me, and to allow you some of
what was forbidden to you. And I have come to you with a proof from your Lord, so fear
Allah and obey me. Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is the
straight path.”
An interesting fact that may come as a surprise to some of you is that Prophet Jesus
(P.B.U.H) has been mentioned 25 times in the holy Quran while Prophet Muhammad
(P.B.U.H) has only been mentioned 5 times.
So far I have mentioned three holy books, the Quran which was revealed to the last Prophet
Muhammad (P.B.U.H), the Torah, which was revealed to Prophet Moses (P.B.U.H) and the
Gospel which was revealed to Prophet Jesus (P.B.U.H). As Muslims, we believe in four holy
books out of which three I have already mentioned and the fourth one is the book of Plasm
which was revealed to Prophet David (P.B.U.H). Each book was revealed by Allah to His
messengers who then passed His word onto their people. Believing in all of these four books
is an essential part of the Islamic faith.
Next, I would like to touch base on the five pillars of Islam which constitute the basis of
Islam. The word Islam means peace, purity, submission and obedience. A Muslim is a
follower of the religion of Islam, in other words, one who surrenders and submits their will
to the will of one true creator - Allah. The first pillar of Islam is the testimony of faith, “La
ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah.” Which translates to “There is no true god but
Allah, and Muhammad is the final Messenger of Allah.”
The second pillar is performing five prayers a day. Prayers are performed at dawn, noon,
mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. Each prayer does not take more than a few minutes to
perform. Praying in Islam is a direct link between the worshipper and Allah.
The third pillar is Zakat – Charity. Muslims believe that all things belong to Allah, and wealth
is therefore held by human beings in trust. The original meaning of the word zakat is both
‘purification’ and ‘growth.’ Giving zakat - charity means ‘giving a specified percentage on
certain properties to certain classes of needy people.’
The fourth pillar is fasting during the month of Ramadan. All practicing Muslims fast from
dawn until sunset, abstaining from food, drink, and other prescribed activities. Although the
fast is beneficial to health, it is regarded mainly as a method of spiritual self-purification. By
cutting oneself off from worldly comforts and desires, even for a short time, a fasting person
gains true sympathy with those who go hungry, as well as growth in his or her spiritual life.
The last pillar of Islam is Hajj, Pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia, which is an obligation
once in a lifetime for those Muslims who are physically and financially able to perform it.
Above all, Islam is about being the best person one can be. No matter what may anger,
sadden or upset a Muslim, their duty on earth is to be the best person they can be by
serving Allah. Muslims are ordered to use their talents to help others and better their
community and be open-minded and never do harm to anyone. Our prophet Muhammad
(P.B.U.H) has ordered us to love one another, to honor and respect and safeguard the life,
family and possessions of one another, not to talk ill behind someone else’s back, to respect
other’s privacy, not to hold a grudge, hate or envy anyone, to be good to our neighbors and
to develop friendship.
I would also like to take this opportunity to clear a misconception with regards to the word
Jihad; a misunderstood concept from Islam. The Arabic word "jihad" is often translated as
"holy war”. But in a purely linguistic sense, the word” jihad" means struggling or striving.
Military jihad is required to protect the faith against others if there is no peaceful
alternative, but there are strict rules of engagement. Innocent people - such as women,
children, or invalids - must never be harmed, and any peaceful proposals from the enemy
must be accepted. Military action is therefore only one means of jihad. Allah mentioned the
best jihad to be the jihad against desires in order to have self-control. To highlight this point,
the Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H) told his followers when returning from a battle: "This day
we have returned from the minor jihad to the major jihad," which he said meant returning
from armed battle to the peaceful battle for self-control and betterment.
Now I would like to say a few words in regards to a Muslim’s global responsibility especially
with respect to differences of opinion. There is a right way and a wrong way to handle
disagreements. The wrong way is to be arrogant, dismissive and aggressive towards others,
believing that you must be right and only your opinion has any value. This is the way of
Saiten. People who believe they are superior are arrogant and those who believe that they
alone are right and everyone else is wrong are considered to have a disease of the heart
according to Islam. This false pride leads to acts of injustice against one another. Prophet
Muhammad (P.B.U.H) warned us not to look down on one another, not to despise one
another, not to lie or slander, but to love one another. The Quran is very serious and
absolute in its declaration that innocent people and civilians, of any kind, can never be
harmed. Allah Almighty declares in the holy Quran that killing an innocent person unjustly is
like killing all of mankind and saving a person’s life is like saving all of mankind. Many
matters are open for debate and interpretation. We should therefore accommodate
differences of opinion on these issues.
When we look around us at the abuse of power that is being visited on those who are weak,
it is easy to feel a sense of frustration and despair. But, we must never let feelings of despair
and weakness drive us to acts of harassment. “We must never say, as some do, that we
want power, we want revenge, by any means necessary…” This is not the way of Islam, this
was never the way of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). As Muslims, we believe that Allah is
All-seeing, All-knowing, and nothing happens at any moment, without His permission. He
tests individuals, and nations, with power and prosperity. And He removes it when He wills.
Now I would like to talk about the issue of identity. We Muslims, too, have fallen into the
bad habit of branding ourselves and wearing Islam as if it was some designer label. Some of
us even become arrogant towards others, treating others disrespectfully as though we are
‘better than them.’ Islam does not teach an ‘us and them’ attitude. We Muslims are an
integral part of the human family, not an exclusive and isolated part from the rest. On the
really big issues in the holy Quran, Allah addresses us not as Muslims or Believers, but as
Mankind, or the children of Adam (P.B.U.H). We are ordered to wear our Muslim identity
inclusively and not exclusively. We are constantly reminded that Prophet Muhammad
(P.B.U.H) did not come as a mercy only to Muslims, but as a Mercy to Mankind, a Mercy to
all the worlds.
The Qur’an does not speak about the good of Muslims or even the good of Believers. It
speaks widely and inclusively about the good of mankind. Therefore our main preoccupation must be to serve all humanity as Allah orders. If we ignore this and narrow our
concerns only towards Muslims, then we disobey the clear orders from Allah. Muslims are
ordered to remember that every Christian, every Jew, every Hindu and Sikh, every atheist, is
also a creature of Allah and it is our obligation to treat them with kindness, out of love for
Allah.
Allah doesn’t want us to be selfish and narrow-minded in our humanitarian concerns. We
must adopt a global view. Problems that face the human species are our problems, and we
must be an active part of the solution. We do not live in a vacuum. We can and must be part
of the solution. It is the responsibility of all Muslims, as individuals and communities, to do
more for the common good of mankind.
An authentic narration tells us that once a Jewish man walked into the mosque and urinated
on the floor. The Companions of the prophet Muhamad (P.B.U.H) were so incensed that
they wanted to beat the man. But Prophet Muhammad (PB.U.H) told them to leave him, and
just to wash the area with clean water. Just let him see that his behaviour was unacceptable,
said the Prophet. The honour of Islam cannot be upheld by returning insults with violence.
It is every Muslim’s obligation to defend the honour of their Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H)
by mobilising their immense resources to eliminate and fight against problems around the
world. Today when people think of Muslims they think of fear and terror. This is partly due
to the media, but let’s be honest, it’s also considerably due to some of our own actions
which are against the teachings of Islam. We have a lot of work to do, and we must begin by
putting our hearts and our homes in order. We need to tackle the really big problems that
face humanity as a whole, and we will find that many of our lesser internal problems will
take care of themselves. Perhaps we can all start by becoming more active in our wider
neighbourhoods beyond our religious community and start working towards a better cause
and the results will speak for themselves. Let us work hard to improve the quality of life for
all people in this beautiful country that has become our home also.
I would like to end my talk with prayers seeking Allah’s help in this important task. O Allah,
give us good in this world, and good in the life to come, and keep us safe from Satin and the
torment of the fire. Once again, I would like to thank everyone. May peace, mercy and
blessings of the Lord be upon all us. Amin