Plenary, 14 Nov 2007

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Official Report 493KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Imam Mustaqeem Shah, from the UK Islamic Mission.

Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Rahim. In the name of Allah, all-compassionate, all-merciful.

I greet you all with the universal greeting of Islam, assalam alakom—peace be with you.

I am grateful and honoured to be given the opportunity to introduce to you the holy prophet of Islam, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He came at the end of the chain of approximately 124,000 prophets of Allah that started in the beginning of time with Adam, and 570 years after Jesus—peace be upon him—with one goal: to guide mankind to the straight path of our Creator.

I hope that I will fulfil my duty to Scotland and its leaders, as I believe that it is crucial to recognise the place that this man holds in the hearts and minds of Muslims. I believe that that will facilitate peace and justice not only here in Scotland but worldwide, as people appreciate the true character of this great man and everything that he stood for. With understanding will come the reluctance to insult a faith ignorantly simply for the sake of it, under the guise of freedom of speech.

Muhammad is dearer to Muslims than their own selves and anything in the world. He—peace be upon him—says:

"By Him in Whose Hands my life is, none of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father and his children and all mankind."

Allah says in the holy Qur'an:

"O believers! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak aloud when talking to him as you speak aloud to one another, lest your deeds should come to nothing while you do not even perceive it."

Muhammad is a role model for Muslims and of mercy for humanity. By studying his life we can understand him, and by doing so we can relate better to the Muslim community of Scotland and beyond.

I suggest a read of Martin Lings's book "Muhammad: His life based on the earliest sources". To make the job easier, I shall quote Michael H Hart in his book "The 100: A ranking of the most influential persons in history":

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels."

In "The Genuine Islam", George Bernard Shaw says:

"I have studied him—the wonderful man … he must be called the Saviour of Humanity."

I shall conclude by presenting a couple of sayings by Muhammad, peace be upon him. The first is:

"None of you will have faith till he wishes for his brother what he likes for himself."

He also says:

"Facilitate things to people, and do not make it hard for them and give them good tidings and do not make them run away."

I will end with a prayer. May the mercy of God bring us closer to him and closer to one another; may he help us love for others what we love for ourselves.

Amen.