Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim Brothers and Sisters celebrating today.
Let us make sure that we also pray for those who are spending today in threat of their lives in places like Palestine, Syria and Nigeria.
Gaza is not just about them, it’s about us, too
But holding this girl baby connected me again to the wardfuls of small children so brutally smashed by this odious war. Connected me too to the ever-present reality that the average age in Gaza is 17 and that a quarter of a million are children are, like the babe in my arms, small children.
and for the first time in my reporting life, scarred, deeply scarred by what I have seen, some of it too terrible to put on the screen.
I donned my headphones and listened to Bach’s heavenly violin concerto in E major, and wept, as I rarely have as an adult.
Powerful words from one of the few reporters who has actively challenged the Israeli Governments PR men about the genocide which is occurring in the region by their hand. The BBC could learn a thing or two about real, unbiased reporting from Channel 4.
Read the full post from the brilliant Jon Snow here
Live Friday Prayers – 25th July 2014
Today is Friday and we are once again broadcasting our Friday Prayers for those of you who are unable to attend a Mosque in person.
You can listen to the Khutba, given in English and Arabic, and then follow along with the Jummah prayers.
Today’s Khutba, from our Mosque in Wembley, will be given by Brother Mustaq, of the UK movement of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam.
Our broadcast will start at the following local times:
1.00pm United Kingdom
17:00pm Pakistan
08:00am USA New York (times vary in different states in America)
Ramadan is more than just fasting
Year after year millions of Muslims around the World fast, as prescribed to us by our faith.
In this speech we look at how many modern Muslims in the UK seem to only stand by the fasting aspect of this blessed month and ignore the fact that we should be making behavioural changes.
If you are a smoker who gives up for Ramadan, and promptly goes back to smoking then you have not participated in Ramadan.
A Muslim must make sure that they change their behaviour for the better every year.
We also look at the recent commercialisation of this blessed month, the big corporations looking at the money that can now be made from Muslims.
Don’t like video? Then you can listen to the podcast below
Privacy in Islam
The UK Government is trying to implement an element of Sharia Law after the ‘hacking trial’
We have seen much coverage of the ‘phone hacking’ trail in the media over the last fortnight in the UK. It brought to light the impunity with which the free British media was able to freely invade people’s privacy and hack into mobile telephone conversations etc to get exclusive news, even when it meant committing criminal offences.
In this khutba we look at the instructions given by the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s) regarding privacy and show how a head of state as highly respected and powerful as Hazrat Umar (r) was required to respect the private lives of people of his state.
Don’t like video? Then you can listen to the podcast here.
Hazrat Ameer’s Ramadan ul Mubarak Message
(1435 Hijrah, June 2014)
O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil.
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Assalaam-o-Alaikum Wa Rakhmatullahi Wa Barakaato Hoo.
The beginning of Ramadan is a time to thank Allah for giving us another opportunity to observe fasting and gain the benefits of this spiritual experience. In His Wisdom Allah, who is the Maker of our bodies and souls, has written a ‘prescription’ to cure all the moral ills that we may be harbouring. And who would know better the treatment of these ills than the Maker Himself.
A person cured of his/her spiritual ills may be described as ‘muttaqee’ and that is the precise reason Allah cites for prescribing fasting: so that you may become ‘muttaqeen’. Like all prescriptions written, there have to be conditions for their effectiveness. Abstaining from water and food and other bodily needs is the least important here.
The Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has expressly said that it is not hunger and thirst that reaches Allah but what reaches Him is the taqwah of the devotee who is fasting. It is imperative for any treatment to be effective that every detail of the instructions given by the physician is followed to the letter. So, while fasting, it becomes mandatory for us to remember that the fast is not confined to gustatory needs only. It is training in observance of abstinence of all parts of our body and senses as ordained by Allah so that He may be pleased with us.
The reason for man being superior to all creatures of Allah is the gift of control over his body and mind. The freedom of choice is there but there is also ‘reward or punishment’ for proper and improper use of the faculties He has gifted us with.
I must stress that the aim of life is not to avoid hell and earn paradise but it is to earn the love and friendship of Allah, in other words, achieve the status of ‘Wali Ullah’. To achieve this real aim of fasting there would be a long list of dos and don’ts for the various parts of our body. For the sake of brevity I will just quote one example. Let us consider the tongue. It can be used wrongly for lying, slander, abuse, hurling insults and worst of all backbiting. Its desired use would be for truth, spreading the good message of Religion, teaching what is right or wrong and for spreading peace in the world.
You can make your own assessment of the right or wrong usage to which you put the various parts of your body. This will show you the true reflection of your real self in the ‘mirror’. Keeping this in view there is tremendous scope for correction and betterment of one’s self. This effort along with fasting should make us ‘muttaqee’ not only for one month but for the rest of our lives. At the end of Ramadan we should make an effort to continue with the gains of fasting in this blessed Month for the rest of the year.
I pray that Allah grants us the opportunity to observe Ramadan in its true spirit. As we experience the spiritual gains, let us all pray for a peaceful world and Allah’s protection for all. May Allah help those who are going through trials in their lives because of turmoil in the world. I wish you a successful Ramadan and pray that Allah blesses you with attaining its true purpose. Aameen!
As I pray for you, please remember me in yours prayers.
Professor Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed,
Ameer and President,
Worldwide Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement
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