Ebrahim Bham – Talk at Centenary of ACJU
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over a candle. I greet you with a traditional Muslim greeting of may the Almighty is peace and blessings be upon each and every one of you.
I first begin by acknowledging the greatness of the Almighty and we thank Almighty for his payments.
His Majesty and His greatness on the sensor rotations upon our beloved prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam peace be upon him
all honorable dignitaries.
There are so many dignitaries that each and every one is important community members, dignitaries, members of the diplomatic corps and in our part of the world, when we are unable to individually mentioned all dignitaries we use enter all protocols observed with regard to all the dignitaries and important members. It gives me great pleasure to be with you on the occasion of the centenary and commemoration of the 100 years of the ACG you also longevity or whatever. Coming from South Africa we have the added dimension of coming from very similar circumstances. Although I must agree with my counterpart that you outdo us in hospitality
living in a multicultural, multi ethnic and multi religious society, which brings in each week, great potential. And we pray the debt potential must be fulfilled in both the countries. Also it brings about challenges, challenges of poverty, growth, unemployment, and infrastructure. We are further living in a world where attempts to blame communities are often accompanied by hatred, and divisiveness. We know what is happening in Europe, America and Mexico borders etc. And let me just add one humorous quote. They say that scientists today are trying to find life in outer space, and some are trying to find life in the bottom of the ocean. It is an intervening space that has become
a challenge to the V.
So and one of the situations is that this is most unfortunate given the oneness of humanity. The Quran says, You are nice enough to me that
all humanity we created you from one male and female, the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam itself could not come in Adam, each and every one of you is from your forefathers, Adam. And Adam was created from this the Quran further proclaims what occurred Koran now, Adam, We have granted respect and dignity to every human being. When our Prophet migrated from Mecca to Medina, he created something unique and unheard of in a society that was divided on tribal lines, he created a treaty which made the security and welfare of the people a top priority. And everyone in Medina, the people from the different backgrounds were required to participate in the defense of the city as
citizens or as people from coming from one city. And the reason why this was done also is that the leadership plays such an important role. And it is important that in this regard, we acknowledge the importance of religion, and religious leaders, religion and religious leaders play a very important role in society. Religion is a gift from the author of life, Almighty Allah, to the created religion and by extension religious leaders have to strive to create an ethical society give purpose and sense of identity to its adherence
play a crucial role for each adherence to go through the anguish and challenges of life. It has been scientifically and otherwise proven that those who have firm faith are able to navigate the challenges of life better than those who do not have firm faith and conviction help build morally sound and stable Communities That Care for the weak and the vulnerable. Helping the weakened, vulnerable has always been a fundamental part of religion.
Let us recall he is not a believer who stomach his father, while his neighbor goes hungry, says one of the
most respect
Double traditions of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the Almighty forgives one to help others. In a tradition, the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said, I saw a person enjoying himself in Jamaica in paradise for removing an offensive item from the road that was used by human beings, the Almighty will grant you his payment assistance, to the extent that you help and show mercy to others.
Her Rafi moon, your humble man, or woman fell out of your hammock this month is among those who are merciful will be shown mercy, be merciful to those on earth. And the ones who are in the heavens won't be merciful to you. And in this particularly dark, let me conclude with a very interesting Sufi incident. Sufi books have become very, very popular. I think in one of the intervening years, Ruby was one of the most widely read authors
in the United States of America. So this incident is created about two Sufi scholars. And one of them asked the other scholar, the other Sufi scholar, telling me your purpose of life.
And why have you chosen that purpose? What made you choose the purpose of life.
And the Sufi scholar said if they were both from the holy city of Mecca, and one of them said, I have devoted my life to worship
and praying in the Holy sanctuary of NACA,
and the reason why I did so listen to the reason with you of listening to it. He said, I was traveling one day when I saw a blind bird on a tree. And I felt, how is this blind bird going to suffer, survive? When I saw another bird, come in, with sustenance, a word in its beak and giving it to this blind bird.
And I thought, if the Almighty can care for a blind burden, the Almighty will take care of my needs. I will now dedicate myself to the worship of the Almighty, the Almighty, if he can care for a blind burden, will take care of my needs. The eldessouky said, very good that you saw this incident. But may I ask you a question?
Why did you choose to be the blind bird? Why didn't you choose to be the healthy bird who was giving food and sustenance to the blind word, the moral of the story sort of story and the moral of the sensitivity, the hand that gives is better than the hand that receives this. Let us be amongst those who will be of benefit to the society and the community. And I end up with a prayer that the Almighty give further progress to the or Ceylon geometry, in fulfilling its objective of creating harmony, of were working towards the betterment of all people in a society, the country and we pray for a better world in which there will be peace, and there will be justice so that humanity can live
together with harmony and peace and justice is the hallmarks of just in a harmonious society is upon Allah Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.