Islamic Friendship Association of
Madam chair, fellow speakers, his eminence the Mufty, distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman Good
evening and peace and blessings to you all.
Being the final speaker, I only have one or two
additional points, most of the main points have
already been covered.
The bible says:
Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew
John
The Qur`an, the book that we Muslims believe to contain the
final words of God tells us how to follow the commandments and points us to
role models of our own human kind such as Abraham, Moses, Christ and Muhammad
peace and blessings upon them all. These
role models applied all the commandments faithfully in their lives and showed
us how to lead a life full of spirituality and love. In this regard, God tells His messenger
Muhammad peace and blessings upon him to say:
Qur`an
God also tells us in the Holy Qur`an
24:22 Forgo and forgive if you would like God to
forgive you.
2:195, 3:148,
2:222 God loves the penitent and those who purify
themselves.
3:76 God loves those who are pious
3:134 Those who
overcome their grudge and those who forgive people, Allah loves those who do
good.
3:146 God loves those who patiently persevere
3:159 God loves those who rely on Him
5:43, 49:9 God loves those who are just
23:96 and 41:34: repel evil with goodness.
One of the names of Allah is the Loving, another is
the forgiving, another is the Most Compassionate and another is the Most
Merciful.
Quoting Christ, John
The
prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him) said: None of you is a
true believer until you love for your brother (in humanity) what you love for
yourself.
He also said:
You will not truly believe until you love one another … in order to love
one another you must promote peace.
God also tells us never to despair of receiving His
grace and Compassion saying at 39:53:
“Say to My devotees who have wronged themselves, do not despair of the
Mercy of Allah, Allah forgives all sins, He indeed is the Oft Forgiving, Most
Merciful.”
The Qur`an tells us
at
The
prophet Muhammad himself described his mission as one to complete the teachings
of the most noble mannerisms and character traits.
He also said: "My example and the example of
the prophets before me is the same as that of a man who built a house, then
beautified it and decorated it, except for the position of one brick in one of
its corners, the people would go around this house, and marvel at it, and
say: If only this brick was put in
place? I am that brick, I am that brick,
and I am the seal of the prophets."
As for the Qur`an itself,
it states at 16:89: “We sent down to
you the book to clarify all things and as a guidance, a grace (and compassion)
and good news for those who submit to God.”
17:9 “Indeed this Qur`an
guides to that which is straighter and gives glad tidings to the believers who
do good, that they have a great reward.”
27:1-3 “Tah Seen, these
are the verses of the Qur`an, a book of clarity, a guidance and glad tidings to
the believers, those who est
And at 46:12 “Before it was the book of Moses, a
leader and a mercy, this is a book confirming, in the Ar
Now for the name Islam, a word that sums up two
meanings, one of peace and the other of surrender to God, two principals that
are just as central to Christianity as they are to Islam.
What
all this indicates is that the message of prophet
Muhammad peace and blessings upon him is a continuation of the divine
revelations. It continues the message of
love and peace and submission to God that was brought by Noah, Abraham, Moses
and Christ. What we heard from the
previous speakers proves beyond doubt our common origin and purpose and the
respect that we share for each other and the respect we enjoy as a
society. The case presented
Here we have two faiths based on love and goodwill,
based on friendship and compassion, with such commonality in goals, the message
of the Qur`an to us as believers in God, is to work together on the basis of
our mutual agreement in the belief in God, refer 3:64 “Say O people of the book (Christians and
Jews are referred to in the Qur`an as people of the book), come to a term that
is mutually agree
It is in our interest to heed this call from God and
to work together, many amongst us would know and have
battled against a number of social challenges that seem to be growing day by
day.
There is the challenge of keeping families together
in the face of increasing separations and break-downs, there is the challenge
of teaching young people to respect their elders, and teaching the elders to
have compassion and mercy for the young, there is the challenge of teaching
youth to work towards constructive long term goals in the face of great
distractions, there is the challenge of helping one another realise that
happiness is not elusive but is reach
To begin addressing these challenges, we must
emulate the mission of love and compassion portrayed by the two great teachers
Christ and Muhammad peace be upon them both. We have to nurture our souls and help others
to rediscover and nurture their’s. We
have to remind each other of the values of faith, perseverance and compassion
as God tells us in the Qur`an at 90:17.
After this, can anyone look at us, sitting here
together and say that we are two groups?
Yes, we are Muslims and Christians, two very close but distinct faiths
and we are together as one group, united in our love for God and for each
other.
Our love for God is the cause, it is our motive, this meeting is the effect of this great love, the rest, the
impact, what you take from here tonight, is entirely up to you.
I
invite everyone here to read
Peace
and love to all.