Khateeb and Friday Imam of Sunnis in Zahedan, Shaikh Abdol-Hamid Isma’eelzahi, shed light on the importance of some great blessings of the Almighty in the latest Friday sermon of Zahedan on 16 August, 2013.
He began his speech by the noble Qur’anic verses: «كَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا فِيكُمْ رَسُولًا مِّنكُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِنَا وَيُزَكِّيكُمْ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُم مَّا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ. فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ . يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ» [بقره: 151-153], (As also We have sent in your midst a messenger from among you, who recites to you Our verses, and purifies you, and teaches you the Book and the wisdom, and teaches you what you did not know. So Remember Me, and I will remember you, and be thankful to Me, and be not ungrateful to Me. O you who believe, seek help through patience and prayer. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.)
The eminent Islamic scholar further said, “These verses have connections with the great blessings of Allah the Almighty in Ramadan. Before the verses, the Almighty mentioned the issue of Qibla and its shift from Bait-ul-Maqdis to Bait-ul-Allah in Makkah. The alteration of Qibla towards Ka’bah was one of the biggest blessings of Allah for the Muslim nation; according the noble Qur’an ‘Ka’bah’ was the first house set up for the people to worship their Lord over there. Comparing to Ka’bah, Bait-ul-Maqdis has a secondary status.”
He shed light on the interpretation of the above-recited Qur’anic verses and said after reminding the great blessing of Qibla shift, Allah Almighty mentions some more blessings of Him; the prophet-hood of the last messenger of Allah is the biggest favor of Him to human beings. The Almighty accepted the request and prayer of the prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, about dispatching a prophet among the last members of his nation to ‘purify’ them and ‘teach’ them the Book and wisdom. The Almighty reminds us that as the alteration of Qibla was a great blessing of Him, the prophet-hood of the last messenger, peace & blessings be upon him, was a great grace, too.
The rector of Darululoom Zahedan and professor of Hadith at the seminary went on to say more, “The Creator of the universe addresses the people saying: ‘a messenger from among you’; it means the last messenger of Allah is one of you. This address is for all; Arabs and non-Arabs. The Qur’anic phrase includes all of the people from any ethnic background. So the messages of the Qur’an and Sunnah are for the entire human beings in anytime and anywhere. The noble Qur’an was not limited to any particular area, community or period of time.”
Shaikh Abdol-Hamid said it has been understood from the verses the noble Qur’an and prophet-hood of the beloved prophet Muhammad, peace & blessings be upon him, were among the greatest blessings of Allah. The noble Qur’an is a very influential book; its verses are unique in guiding the readers. If somebody understands what the Qur’an says to him/her, s/he would gain many things. Not only by understating, but also without understanding its verses work well. The Qur’an is remedy for both material and spiritual diseases.
He underlined, “Allah Almighty calls on us to remember Him and give thanks to Him after reminding some of His blessings. We must be thankful to Allah over His countless blessings specially the graces of the Qur’an, purification, wisdom and the prophet-hood of the last messenger, peace be upon him. Giving thanks to Allah is not limited to the tongue; we should give thanks by deeds and actions as well.”
At the end of the first part of his sermon among thousands of Sunni citizens, Shaikh-ul-Islam Mawlana Abdol-Hamid called on the audience to have patience over blames propagandas and unwilling events. If you do so, Allah will reward you in response. Allah the Almighty mentioned patience and thanks together; it proves until we have no patience, we cannot give thanks to Allah. The biggest thank is to be patient, strong and constant until the last breath.
Massacring Egyptians by Army was a Betrayal
In the second part of his sppech, Mawlana Abdol-Hamid talked about the ongoing massacre of the Islamists in Egypt calling it a betrayal by the Egyptian army to the nation.
Talking to tens of thousands worshippers in the southeastern city of Zahedan in Iran, he said, “The bloody assault of the Egyptian army and security forces on the anti-coup Islamist protesters made all free-hearted nations mournful.”
The prominent Islamic scholar called the military coup in Egypt ‘bombardment of democracy’ and added more, “Coup means tyranny and enforcing dictatorship; the rulers who get power by coup d’état are tyrants and monopolists. The pre-coup government in Egypt was an elected government that was chosen by the votes of the people. If the pro-coup sides considered that government was ‘incompetent’, they must have shown patience until the end of the Morsi government’s duration. They should have changed the government in a democratic process; their military coup d’état has proved they are against democracy and they cannot tolerate Islam and Islamists.”
“Opening fire on the peaceful sit-ins of pro-Morsi protesters from all corners and mass killing of civilians was denounced by the world; we also denounced it strongly. We are with the people of Egypt in this difficult moment; we condole with all Muslims around the globe. It is obvious to all that the military coup d’état and genocide of innocent people, including women and children, have been carried out by the direct provocation of Zionists and arrogant powers,” Shaikh-ul-Islam Mawlana Abdol-Hamid underlined.
He further said that it was the duty of the Egyptian army to defend the sovereignty of Egypt and the lives of the citizens; this army is not allowed to massacre people. None of armies can shoot its own people in the world.
The member of the International Union for Muslim Scholars concluded his points by saying, “We ask the rulers of all countries to decry the betrayal of the Egyptian army and massacre of common people in Egypt. All elements and individuals who supported the recent Egypt military coup d’état inside or outside of that country should dissociate from the criminal activities of the Egyptian forces. It is better for them to denounce the massacre of the protesters in order to save their honor and dignity after losing it badly.”
Iran can remain powerful if the rulers behave with all Iranians impartially
In another part of his Friday sermon, Shaikh Abdol-Hamid alluded to the vote of confidence of the Iranian parliament on the cabinet of the new president and said, “The president Rouhani has urged on his ministers to avoid extremes. Most of the ministers also underlined that they would concentrate on the rights of all sects and ethnic communities; it is a positive point for the ‘government of hope and discretion’.”
Pointing out to the slogans of the new government, Khateeb of Sunni Muslims emphasized the government should bring the slogans into action regarding the rights of different sects and ethnic groups. “Participation of the eligible members of different sects in the fields of management on the national and provincial levels will strengthen national unity and security of Iran,” he added more.
Shaikh Abdol-Hamid underlined, “The best discretion of the Iranian regime can be ‘impartiality’; it ensures the power of the country. We hope and pray for the new president that he would take serious steps to fulfill his promises.”