Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Official Report 675KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Shaykh Amer Jamil, who is co-director of the Solas Foundation and a family support consultant at Unity Family Services.

Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Rahim. In the name of the compassionate most merciful.

There is an Islamic tradition that narrates that, for two types of people, if they are upright, the whole nation becomes upright and if they are corrupt, the entire nation becomes corrupt. One type carries the moral authority in society and the other commands legislative authority. Both have enormous influence on the lives of people and, therefore, just as they have the ability to lead society towards good, their failure in their duties impacts negatively on the whole of society.

It is for this reason that those two groups are held to a very high level of scrutiny in what they say, how they behave and how they execute their roles. Not only is immoral behaviour not accepted from these people, but there can often be public outcry at such behaviour, even where no legal laws have been broken. Who, you may ask, yields such power, influence and responsibility? It is the scholars and political rulers.

In Islamic teachings, the good political ruler regards himself as a servant of God who has been given the honour of serving other people; the just ruler has a high rank with Almighty God. Very often, such people say that they entered public life to serve the people. That intention is a noble one and is regarded in Islam as being one of the best deeds.

The Prophet Mohammed—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“The best of people are those that bring most benefit to the rest of mankind.”

However, as the saying goes, with great position comes great responsibility so, just as good leadership can bring peace and prosperity to the people, equally, if position is abused, great injustices can be inflicted. Around the world today, we see how nations can suffer at the hands of oppressive rulers. Therefore, we are reminded that we will be held accountable for all our actions and the actions of those over whom we have power and influence.

A prophetic saying states:

“Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock.”

The Qur’an reminds us that, on the day of reckoning, every soul will be judged by their actions, even if it is an atom’s weight of good or bad, which is why the Islamic faith reminds us to constantly keep ourselves in check. I leave you with the words of the great Caliph Umar who said:

“Hold yourselves to account before you are brought to account.”