Shaikh Abdol-Hamid called on payment of Zakah terming practicing the Islamic commands ‘the biggest interest’ for mankind.
Khateeb of Sunnis began his speech of Friday, 10 April, 2015 by the Noble Qur’anic verse: “وَالَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ الذَّهَبَ وَالْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ”, (And there are those who amass gold and silver and do not spend it in the Way of Allah. Announce to them the tidings of a painful chastisement) and said, “Zakat has been an obligatory since the beginning in all religions. Allah Almighty has declared Salah (prayers) and Zakah obligatory in all divine religions.”
“The rationale behind obligation of prayers and obligatory donation is to teach mankind worshipping their Only Lord by wealth and body. If we offer prayers day and night and worship Him only by body without paying Zakah, we deserve punishment. Those who deny to pay Zakah should know that their golds and wealth will be burning fire and the Almighty will account and try them on the Accountability Day.”
The rector of Darululoom Zahedan added more, “Although our souls and wealth belong to the Almighty, He buys them giving us the blessings of the Paradise in return. The person who loves Allah, never denies to sacrifice his soul and wealth on His path. Such a person never keeps sleeping at the time of Fajr prayers; otherwise s/he will be a liar.”
“If a man holds the curtain of Ka’bah and takes oath that he loves Allah, but on the other hand he refuses paying Zakah, he will be termed a liar indeed logically and legally.”
He expressed his concerns over laziness of some people regarding the payment of Zakah and said, “Regretfully many of Muslims do not act on their responsibilities in the case of Zakah, while Zakah is the third pillar of Islam. Salah is the biggest bodily worship as Zakah is the biggest financial worship; therefore we see them in different places of the Noble Qur’an together.”
“Most of rich men lost their wealth just due to negligence in paying Zakah. The mixture of poor’s right in any wealth and money destroy it; it is doubtless. Thus we must submit before the orders of the Shari’ah acting on them, whether we see any benefit or not. But carrying out the commands of Allah Almighty is the biggest interest for any regime, nation and individual,” he emphasize.
By Focusing on Facts, Rights of Minorities Crises Can be Resolved
In the second part of his speech, Shaikh Abdol-Hamid alluded to extension of insecurity and problems in the Muslim world urging on rights of all classes of nations to get rid of crises.
Khateeb of Sunnis expressed his concerns on possible chaos and more conflicts in other parts of the Muslim world. He said, “Many of the ongoing crises in the Muslim world can be resolved by dialogue and negotiation. Most of the conflicts and insecurities have changed into sectarian and religious conflicts.”
“The current situation and affairs need to be changed. There must be a change in policies. Acting on my responsibility, I had asked the Muslim leaders and rulers to review their policies before this.”
Mawlana Abdol-Hamid pointed out to the reasons behind the challenges of the Muslim world and said, “I have talked in some conferences in Tehran and Qom recently; in my viewpoint, the root cause of crises and challenges in the Muslim world is in neglecting the facts. Elite and veteran politicians, the UN and different states do not see the facts of the world.”
“It is the main problem that mostly a particular group wants to restrict the power in its hands without participation of others. In many countries, rights of minorities are neglected and monopolist groups marginalize others. In elections minorities do not get their due rights and in many states election is just a dramatic show.”
“When deprived parties and groups see their rights wasted, they do not submit before the ruling parties and then we see revolutions and conflicts kick off. They create problems then. Thus governments must not be heritable or restricted to any particular community and sect. minorities whether they are Sunnis or Shias must have their due rights.”
Opposing military intervention and urging on negotiation to resolve the ongoing crises, he underlined, “We have experienced a serious issue like the nuclear case of Iran was resolved by negotiation. We think this issue has been resolved as the two sides agreed upon the necessity of dialogue. Sanctions and military assault cannot resolve crises.”
“Negotiation can bring peace in Yemen, Libya, Syria and Iraq too. It is in accordance with the interests of all states to pay attention to the rights of their minorities and all classes of nation,” the outstanding Iranian Sunni leader concluded his points.
Making the province insecure isn’t acceptable
In another part of his speech, Shaikh Abdol-Hamid decried murder of 8 Iranian border guards and 2 personnel of the Revolutionary Guards in Sistan-Baluchistan and said, “We, Ulama, educated class and tribal elders do not allow anyone to create security problems in Sistan-Baluchistan. We want our rights under peace and security.”
“We do not claim the Iranian Sunnis have no problem and they have got their due rights. There are many problems, but we believe in peaceful channels like dialogue.”
Khateeb of Sunnis termed the overall situation of the province ‘good’ and said, “There have been some good and hopeful changes in the province. Most of the governors in southern Baluchistan are Sunnis; the Shia ones are in fact just men too. There are many developing projects under construction and the government is going to decrease the rate of unemployment.”
Marginalizing Sunnis, the biggest problem in Iran for them
The prominent Islamic scholar asked president Rouhani to pay more attention to all Sunni-populated regions getting them engaged in power and management of the country.
He said, “We want to take part in development and management of our country in all levels. We expect the politicians to observe our acts and affairs; security and spy agencies must not observe our works who are so young for this duty.”
“There are some obstacles and problems but we show patience. Meanwhile it is marvelous to hear some security personnel stop Sunni worshippers to gather for prayers in a metropolis. We hope the authorities permit us to offer prayers and worship the Almighty according to our jurisprudence without any hesitation as Jews and Christians are free in their worships,” he underlined.
At the end of his speech, Mawlana Abdol-Hamid said, “We can play positive role in international levels to resolve some crises; unfortunately we have not been allowed to do so.”