Wednesday 17 March 2010

Seminar on the Life of the Prophet Peace be upon him

Seminar on the Life of the Prophet
Peace be upon him

Dr. Mozammel Haque

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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