FROM THE HOLY HARAMS

Remain grateful to Allah

MAKKAH/MADINAH - The Imam and Khateeb of the Holy Haram in Makkah, Sheikh Dr. Osamah Abdullah Khayyat, in his Friday sermon on 13 December said the pleasures and delights of this world can never be a barrier between a man of faith and his Lord if the person sincerely seeks His favour.

While some people are keenly involved in worldly affairs and comforts and material possessions of this world, for the pious and the righteous, the perfection of faith and piety to the highest degrees and purity in the belief of One Allah, following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and doing good deeds are of prime importance that guide them, Sheikh Khayyat said.

The second most important thing, after the belief in the Oneness of Allah, is the presence of sincere and truthful advisors (scholars and religious leaders) in our community who would counsel their Muslim brethren on the ways to praise their Lord and how to avoid pitfalls and sources of ruin, Sheikh Khayyat added.

"Following their advices is a noble trait and (a sign of) good character. Although human beings are fallible, their failures can only be mitigated by the mercy and grace of Allah and with the help of sincere and dedicated advisors," he said.

"And those who disregard their advice and never pay attention to their counsel (even the teaching of the Holy Qur'an) out of pride or self-conceit are doomed to failure and torment," he concluded.

Thanking Allah for His countless blessings is one of the most important duties of a Muslim.

Meanwhile, Imam and Khateeb of the Prophet's (peace be on him) Mosque, Sheikh Ali Ibn Abdur Rahman Al-Hudhaifi, in his sermon said thanking Allah for His countless blessings is one the most important duties of a Muslim.

"The opposite of not thanking Allah is disbelieving in Him. Thanking Him entails deep belief in Him, carrying out the duties and obligations ordained by Him and abstaining from committing what He has forbidden," he added.

"One has to be grateful to Allah for all the bounties and blessings bestowed on him by Allah. On the other hand, being ungrateful to Him implies that a person does not believe in the Message of Allah, does not carry the duties and obligations, commits sins and thus remains ungrateful to the Lord," he said.

Sheikh Al-Hudhaifi added that the rewards of giving thanks to Allah are great as Allah saves the person from torment and wards off evil from him. With offering thanks to Allah, His bounties increase and His blessings become long-lasting.

"Being grateful also means showing gratitude to the Benefactor for His favours and blessings by His remembrance and sincere love of the Benefactor which should also be reflected in one's deeds and acts that please Him," he said.

"Even parts of one's body that are involved in acts that earn Allah's pleasure and are done solely for His sake, involve thanking Him. Whereas, if a person uses his body's organs for committing acts of sins, then he is ungrateful to Allah and is waging war against Him and denies the blessings granted by Him," he added.

"If a Muslim spends his money in a religious cause or in ways permitted by Allah, he or she stands to earn Allah's reward, in other words he thanks Allah. Similarly, if a person uses his wealth for committing sins and for acts that are harmful, then he is ungrateful to Allah and he spends his money in ways that earn Allah's wrath," he said. "To be grateful to Allah a person should obey Him and abstain from acts that show disobedience to Him. Good deeds must be followed by good deeds and he should thank Allah in order to get His rewards multiplied," he concluded. - SPA

Muslim Ummah rejects all forms of terrorism, violence and extremism banned by Islam

RABAT - In a communique released on 15 December in Rabat, the Executive Council of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) reaffirms that the entire Islamic Ummah rejects, jointly and severally, terrorism, violence and extremism under all their forms, methods and formula and considers them as a mischief on earth that is banned and incriminated by Islam as expressed clearly in the Holy Qur'an: "If any one slew a person unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief on earth, it would be as if he slew the whole people."

The Council holds as truth that the responsibility for international peace and security lies with the international community as a whole, and that the Islamic world, being a stakeholder in the international and collective enterprise, consecrate the principles of peace and security, as part of commitment to international law and legitimacy. It affirms that true peace, likely to bring about stability of human societies and redress the world conditions, is a peace built on justice, fairness and equity and on the respect of human rights, in the forefront of which, the right to self-determination and liberation from foreign occupation of the territories of countries striving to obtain their independence.

The Executive Council's communique appeals to the international community to close ranks and affirm their solidarity to solemnly condemn terrorism, including state terrorism exercised by Israel against the Palestinian people, and face up to all those propagating the theory of the clash of civilizations and seeking to sow the seeds of hatred and animosity among people trigger wars merely to fulfill personal objectives, without any legal ground or rationale.

The Council strongly denounces all international and regional initiatives, acts and policies means to undermine peace and security, destabilize human societies, and utilize terrorism as a means to reach their ends and exercise pressure on states, threatening their peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In the closing of its 23rd Session, held in the presence of the Director General of ISESCO, Dr. Abdul Aziz Othman Altwaijri, ISESCO's Executive Council released this communique on the stand of the Muslim World regarding the issues of peace, security and terrorism after it examined the present situation prevailing in the Muslim World in light of the threats menacing the Ummah, its faith, culture and civilization, jeopardizing its sovereignty, security and stability of its states, and after it reviewed the world changes and their impact and percussion on the present and the future of the Muslim World. - Press Release

Muslim Persecution in Myanmar

Dr. Nora Ahmed

THE latest account holds 5,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled into Bangladesh at the end of November of this year from Myanmar (Burma). The number of Rohingya Muslim refugees thus in Bangladesh rose to around 250,000. This is the third major influx since 1978. The refugees told Amnesty that they had fled persecution, leaving their homes in Maungdaw and Bathidaung township areas of the Pakhine province.

The Buddhists who are in power today cannot forget the power and authority of these Muslims aback in history and during the composition of this region. Arab Muslim traders converted the people Rohang who were in Arakan to Islam in the 10th and 11th centuries. The succeeding centuries saw an influx of Muslim immigrants from West, Central and South Asian countries. Arabs, Persian, Indians and Turks intermarried with native Arakanese. The Buddhists resent the culture of openness and co-existence and want to establish a pure pagan society.

Muslims number close to seven million in Myanmar. The majority are Indian Muslims who settled in Burma when the country was under the British rule, moving to Burma during the 19th century. Some of the ethnic Indian Muslims migrated into Karen State. The distinct ethnic character of the people is evident in their language, Rohingya, which is a mixture of Bengali, Persian, Arabic and Arakanese. The Rohingya also live on the other side of the Burma-Bangladesh border. In this manner these and the glory of Islam which is resented by the racist military regime in Myanmar which relies on myths of Buddhist historical times as opposed to Islam and the changes it brought about.

Persecution of Burmese Muslims by Buddhists is ongoing today. The history of human rights violations against Muslims in Burma dates back to 1784, when Burman Buddhists invaded Arakan. Troops this year entered the area, occupied and closed mosques, seized livestock and crops, captured villagers for forced labour and evicted them from their homes.

Since June of this year OIC had been calling for an end to the persecution of these Muslims and released its statement by saying: "The extremist Buddhists have burned houses, killed women and children and destroyed eight historical mosques in the Tongo region, and 26 mosques in the Mindanao region." It strongly condemned the inhuman and aggressive attacks by extremist Buddhists upon Muslims in Myanmar.

The OIC called on the international community and human rights organizations to intervene and force the Myanmar government to halt attacks on Muslims, and quit destroying mosques and Islamic historical places. It urged the international community to secure the safety of Muslims in the Union of Myanmar and enable them to exercise their political and social rights as accorded to other citizens, and safeguard their Islamic identity. If today's world community is all about coexistence and cultural exchanges, why is it silent about the persecution of Muslims.

Validity of Umrah Visa to be reduced to one month

MAKKAH - The validity of Umrah visas will be cut from three months to only one month effective the next year's Umrah season, according to the minister of Hajj Iyad Ibn Amin Madani.

The minister told the Jeddah-based Okaz Arabic newspaper that the new regulation would help his ministry to know the exact number of Umrah performers on a monthly basis. He added that his ministry was also planning to put a ceiling for the number of Umrah performers coming from every country every month to enable the Saudi consulates finalize Umrah visas on due times."

The new measure will help in offering excellent services to Umrah performers, prevent large crowds coming in certain months of the year and will facilitate their departure to their homelands,"

Madani indicated that some 1,700,000 Umrah performers out of the total 2,126,000, have so far left the Kingdom, adding that his ministry is coordinating with the sea and air companies for the departure of remaining Umrah performers before the deadline, which is December 19. - RD