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On the occasion of the month of Muhharam, 1427 A.H
In the name of Allah the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful
O Allah, another year has gone by, and we have forgotten what we have done throughout it, but You have recorded it. O Allah, whatever sins You have recorded against us, cover them up with Your Divine Concealment and Cover of Grace. O The Utmost Generous, send Your Endowment, Grace, Forgiveness and Generosity upon our faults and wash them away with Your abundant Forgiveness. O Allah, with the approach of the new year, help us obey you consistently and keep us away from disobeying You, O The Utmost Merciful.
Dearly beloved, this year, which is dawning today, will see the Arab and Islamic Ummah (nation) look forward to a new awakening. Although the year 1426 A.H may have been a year in which some Islamic regions were affected by disasters, and repeated attacks on our Islamic world were carried out, I sense Al-hamdulilah (All praises be to Allah) an awakening in its youth and its people, and a return to the pastures of Islam. This is what heartens me; although, the onslaught is tough, the benefit that will follow will be abundant and full of blessing, with Allah's will. Allah's Wisdom has decreed for this Ummah, that the path to blessings be paved with adversity.
Although, the affliction is grave in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and a number of other Muslim lands, the hope in Allah (AWJ) is great that our Arab and Islamic Ummah will rise to unify its statement, unite its ranks, strengthen itself and return to Allah's rope which He has ordered us to hold fast to; the rope that whoever holds fast to will never go astray nor be distressed. This return and this awakening bodes well, thus when I see the mosque courtyards full of various kinds of young people, I feel it is my duty to warn the spiritual leaders; find a way to unite your youth not divide them, unite their ranks not disperse them, and enlighten their minds not dim them. Avoid O beloved, narrow-minded disagreements as much as you can, avoid dispute that can lead the Ummah to disunity. Bring together the Ummah to take the righteous course and to follow the clear straight path.
Our enemies are persevering day and night, to remove the light of Islam from our hearts and to extinguish the glow of Islamic thinking from our minds and distance our bodies and souls from the pleasure of Islamic spiritual bliss. Thus, we must be up to the responsibility by filling the minds of the youth with what will bring them happiness and develop them, and make them into internationally recognized, intellectual leaders that adhere to values, morals and Islamic conduct. We must fill their inner selves and souls to enable them to achieve a state of exceptional spiritual energy and cleanse their bodies by guiding them to all that is lawful and keeping them away from all that is sinful. We should strengthen them by planting love of the Ummah in their hearts, and avoid, as much as we can, all matters which divide the Ummah and lead to conflict of minds, and hatred and hostility in the heart.
Today we are at the start of a new Hijri year, 1427 years after the Hijra (immigration) of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) . It is our duty to read the Hijra anew. Furthermore, every year that passes and every year to come we should read the recollections of the Hijra carefully, calmly and with contemplation. We should deduce once more the lessons to be learned from it, in order to understand the difference between hijra (emigration) and abandonment. We should not abandon our homelands; leave our lands, sully our values nor pollute our environment, for pollution of the environment and pollution of the minds is a form of abandonment of the homeland. Hijra should be in order to build the Ummah and develop our homelands. We must teach our children, who emigrate, that hijra is only to develop the homeland and to develop the people and not to get away from the homeland or the values of human dignity.
A new year dawns, and the Islamic Ummah looks forward to a bright future. There may be trials that emerge here or there; we must beware of them and deal with them rationally, not with violent reactions as has happened with Norway and Denmark after the publication of the pictures that vilify our Messenger (SAWS). We must deal with such issues with wisdom, careful consideration and reason. We should use Islamic invitation to set up dialogue with the Danish and Norwegian people, indeed all the peoples of Europe, to explain to them that we hold all the prophets sacred, not just Muhammad (SAWS) and we respect them all. If secularism means to them, mockery of the prophets and mockery of values then that is up to them, but they should respect others and what they hold sacred.
The violent reactions that are taking place now, are the aim of many of the powers that wish to destroy the humanitarian relationship between the West and us. There are evil powers that wish to instigate a clash of cultures and we, with Allah's will, will not be the cause of a clash of cultures. If some cultures assail us we will guide them to return to reason, and if some people have ridiculed our Prophet (SAWS), our religion or our values then it is our duty to teach them to respect values, honor the prophets and their sanctity, and to sanctify the heavenly laws. This can only be achieved through conscious dialogue that should be carried out by scholars who comprehend this issue. Reacting with insults, abuse, violence, disdain and curses was never a characteristic of our Islamic Ummah.
A new year dawns and our Islamic Ummah is under attack, and we must consider calmly, how to resist these attacks using knowledge, reason and strength. When Allah (T) says, "And prepare for them whatever power……you can" (TMQ, 8:60), strength does not refer only to physical strength. It is also strength of mind, understanding, dialogue, economy and technology, all of which are strengths, for our religion came for the life and happiness of mankind not for death and destruction.
A new year dawns, and my hope in Allah is great, that He will render Syria safe and secure, a place where the rope of Allah is held fast to. Syria was intended by the Messenger of Allah (SAWS), when he said, there, would be a mainstay of Islam until the Day of Judgment. It shall remain a mainstay of the Islamic and Arab Ummah, that will never bow down to anyone but Allah, Lord of mankind and jinn and all that exists, and will only prostrate in worship to the Creator of the earth and the heavens, Allah, Lord of mankind and jinn and all that exists.
Thus, as its young leader, may Allah guide him to prosperity, said, we are a nation that bows down only to Allah, Lord of mankind and jinn and all that exists. Even if every nation gives up and surrenders to its current state, its weakness, helplessness or its enemy, the land of Levant, where the mainstay of Islam is, will never surrender unless Allah wills it to. We will work hand in hand with our brethren in the Islamic and Arab Ummah to revive the (Islamic) renaissance, awaken the hearts and minds, return to the values of our Messenger (SAWS) and protect our children both Muslims and Christians. We will show them the greatness of this religion that unites not divides, brings together not disperses, builds not destroys and gives not takes only good and blessings, which are from Allah (AWJ).
I wish you a happy New Year, asking the Lord to grant the whole world many prosperous and peaceful returns, and that the pure (and holy) land of Palestine is freed and returned to its children, and that Iraq is freed so that its beautiful mellow voice may be heard once more. It is a voice that has filled the horizons with civilization, science, art, philosophy and benevolence.
I ask Allah, my Lord to reconcile the hearts of the leaders of the Islamic world that they may establish an economic, intellectual, scientific, spiritual and humanitarian union, which would enable them to face evil wherever it may be, and Allah's (AWJ) ayah, "And prepare for them whatever power……you can " (TMQ, 8:60), could represent or be represented in this exceptional union.
May Allah assist you and me to make this a year of blessing and prosperity for Muslims.
As-salamu alaykom we rahmatullahi we barakatuh (May peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.)
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