Khateeb of Sunnis in Zahedan, Iran, urged on ‘healthy competition in different fields’ and termed ‘religious enmity and Islamophobia’ the main problem of the current time in his Friday sermon of Nov. 7, 2014 (Muharram 13).
Talking to tens of thousands worshippers in Zahedan, southeastern Iran, Shaikh Abdol-Hamid counted the ongoing world ‘the world of competition’ and said, “We should have competition with other nations in the fields of science, industry, technology and the rest of material and spiritual grounds. As well as competition among Muslims in religious and worldly fields is ideal.”
“The Noble Qur’an has enjoined us to compete in good deeds, but it must be a healthy competition. Some competitions end up with enmity and hatred; it is Haram. However, competition of Muslims and non-Muslims in the fields of industry, technology and science is useful,” he added more.
The rector of Darululoom Zahedan criticized the role of some Western states and said, “Some states and nations have been fighting against us and Islam on religious basis. They cannot tolerate our faith and they want to uproot Islam. Many of the ongoing wars have religious roots and motivations. The sinister regime of Israel has been massacring Palestinians occupying their lands; it is an example of religious enmity. If all Palestinians were Jews or Christians, we would not have seen any settlement, occupation and merciless massacre of them by the Zionists.”
Shaikh-ul-Islam Mawlana Abdol-Hamid underlined: “Israel is the worst enemy of Islam. The supporters of Israel witness the painful scenes from the barbarism of Israelis, but they tolerate all of it and keep up their unjust support from Israel. The root of many crises in the world is religious hostility; however they show some other pretexts for them. Mostly they proclaim political motivations for such wars and conflicts hiding the main causes. Sometimes they disclose that fact unwantedly.”
Deliberate spread of debauchery in Muslim societies
Khateeb and Friday Imam of Sunnis in Zahedan alluded to the efforts of the Western world to spread immorality in Muslim societies and said more, “Basically the Western world is afraid of the Islamic awakening and the spread of Islam. Muslims in the Europe and US have been returning towards Islam; Masjids are full of worshippers, women exercise hijab, all of them work hard to avoid misdeeds and amend their past faults. They know well their salvation is only in Islam and repentance.”
“We saw a Christian cleric burning copies of the Noble Qur’an as some others insulted the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him; these are proofs that they cannot tolerate Islam. But these elements do not know their irrational acts awake Muslims more,” Shaikh further said.
The eminent Islamic leader emphasized, “A war between the wrong and right is going on. ‘The wrong’, Batil, cannot withstand the right, Haqq. It is the war between ‘vice’ and ‘benefaction’; they just want prevalence of depravity and immorality in the Muslim countries. In many parts of the world, the wrong doers want to strike on Muslims as they had not tolerated them in the past.”
The majority of Muslims on the way of sobriety
Decrying extremism, Khateeb of Zahedan said, “Muslims have tolerance; when a Muslim is sober, he tolerates all of his opponents. However there are some extremists among the Muslim masses who are not favored. I am away from going to extremes and I think Muslims must be temperate. By the blessings of Allah, most of the Muslims are on the path of sobriety.”
He called on Muslims to avoid extremes and pointed, “Some Muslims go to extremes even they do not show any tolerance with their faith-fellows. Muslims should accept each other and live along with different sects and ideas peacefully. On the other hand, some people get impressed by non-Muslims; they must not be deceived and play in their hands implementing their plans among Muslim societies.”
In another part of his speech, the member of the International Union for Muslim Scholars addressed pro-West Muslim leaders and stated, “Don’t believe in the false promises of the West; they are not going to make your countries developed. They just chant slogans and promise you what they actually do not do. What they have done for Afghanistan? They have been present and active in that state and our Afghan brothers and sisters suffer from many problems yet.”
He added more, “The Western states exaggerate by propagation when they carry out any little work for us. Muslim leaders should strive to get pleasure of Allah and their nations not the opportunist Western rulers. According to the Noble Qur’an, the Jews and Christians cannot be satisfied and happy with you but after following them completely. Muslim nations only want Shari’ah. The sovereignty, peace and power of the Muslim states depend on the imitation of Shari’ah and Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.”
He invited Muslim rulers to rely upon the Almighty and their masses as the Noble Qur’an informed the Last Messenger that Allah and the believers who had followed him were sufficient for the prophet, peace be upon him. “It is very regrettable to see some Muslim rulers and leaders violate the rules of Allah trying to get pleasure of non-Muslims. Real Muslims work hard to boost good deeds and goodness in their societies,” he made it clear.
Results of US Senate elections, failure of Obama’s policies in ME
Pointing out to the recent Senate elections of the United States, the outstanding Sunni leader said, “The result of the Senate elections in the US proved that the current policies of Obama administration have failed and the majority of Americans did not support White House. If the Middle East is suffering from various crises, it is just due to wrong stances of the US and its allies. The US statesmen supported Israel unjustly, they created troubles for Muslim societies, they did wrong by sabotaging the recent wave of Islamic awakening.”
“The defeat of the democrats was the natural result of the US rulers in the region; they got the displeasure of the Almighty, Muslim masses as well as the nation of the United States. Americans must review their stances and leave their oppressive policies behind. They should gratify and atone as they have been creating headaches for Muslim states by wars and regional conflicts,” Shaikh urged.
Drivers should respect the regulations on roads
Khateeb of Sunnis alluded to the ‘United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety’ in the last part of his speech and said, “The roads of Iran leave casualties more than any other place. The main cause is the outlawed speed and outrun. I think Sistan-Baluchistan’s roads are more perilous; mostly young drivers in the ages of 21 to 30 lose their lives. Thus I call on drivers to take care of themselves and the rest of people on roads. Otherwise they would be killers of people.”
At the end of his sermon, Shaikh Abdol-Hamid expressed his condolences over the demise of the prominent Islamic scholar and preacher, Mawlana Jamshid Ali Khan, in Pakistan mentioning him a capable preacher of Islam. He made Du’a for all Ulama and preachers of Islam.