We had organised a protest/vigil against atrocities carried out by fiends & monsters in the name of Islam. A church gave us permission to stand in front of their premises. Here is a rationale of vigil & account of that day: We are living in a tumultuous world,especially Muslims have had a terrible decade, in view of wars,failed Revolutions,Palestinian Intifaada & Gaza bombings & suicide bombings,violence against minorities.All these perceived injuries have made Muslims highly embittered,losing their compassion & empathy,distancing them from the teachings of their Lord. We decided to act against such practices, thus a group of doctors based in adjoining towns of Manchester,decided to hold vigils for the last few months against atrocities & carnage being carried out in our name.There is a general apathy amongst Muslims about such events unfortunately. Sunday 11th Jan,2015 will remain etched in my memory till my last breath.We had decided to hold a vigil on Oxford Road,in front of the Students Union Office.It was bitterly cold ,so we were looking for a place with some protection,what better place than a house of God,the Holy Name Church of Jesuit society of UK.Our police escort asked us to seek permission from the church authorities,so I alongwith my friends went inside & found a man of God in father Tim Byron.He not only gave us permission to hold our vigil outside the church but also asked us to speak to the congregation.it seemed as if our Lord had guided us to him & a ray of light beamed across the church.God is Great! I was a bit apprehensive about speaking ,as I had not prepared anything for such an august gathering but Allahs blessings helped me to deliver a short talk. Life is sacred,its a gift from God & none has the right to take it away except God. Al-Quran 9-116 To God belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He grants life and causes death. God is your only Guardian and Helper. This is not the only teaching which we find in Quran about taking life,suicide is prohibited in Islam Al-Quran 4-29 And do not Kill yourselves (nor Kill one another). Surely, Allah is Most Merciful to you. Taking an innocent life is considered sacrilegious. Al-Quran 5:32 For this reason, We made it a law for the children of Israel that the killing of a person for reasons other than legal retaliation or for stopping corruption in the land is as great a sin as murdering all of mankind. However, to save a life would be as great a virtue as to save all of mankind In view of these teachings one can categorically condemn any such acts as contrary to Quranic teachings & repugnant to Islamic philosophy . Islam means submission to will of God,thus a person who is failing to submit to the will of God is outside the remit of his religion & thus his acts are unlikely to be rewarded in heaven with virgins,a common misconception amongst media. Islamic belief: -unity of God, -Believe in All the prophets & their books & their teachings,-Day of Judgement,-Angels,-Prayers -Fasting,Alms,-Pilgrimage to Makkah Al-Quran 2-285 The Messengers and the believers have faith in what was revealed to them from their Lord. Everyone of them believed in God, His angels, His Books, and His Messengers, saying, We find no difference among the Messengers of God. They also have said, We heard Gods commands and obeyed them. Lord, we need Your forgiveness and to You we shall return. Our faith has too many commonalities with Judaism & Christianity,both Abrahamic PBUH religions.God expects us to be close to each other & respect each others prophets & their teachings. Al- Quran 5:69 The believers, Jews, Sabaeans, and the Christians who believe in God and the Day of Judgment and who do what is right will have nothing to fear nor will they be grieved. In the end I stated that freedom of speech is an integral part of a democracy but there is a responsibility to avoid hurting other faith & minorities living in a country. This is exactly what Pope Francis has said a few days later,there should not be any provocation.God bless him,Ameen. I thanked the church & father in allowing us this opportunity of sending our message to Christian brothers & sisters. Afterwords I stood on the steps of the church with father Byron to greet parishioners as they exited the church,a lot of them were grateful for our message of love,peace & interfaith harmony. We had tea with Chaplaincy students & staff,which also provided us with an insight into workings of Food bank,some of us are eager to get Involved & support this venture by contributing positively. May God bless all who helped us & the congregation,Ameen
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 08:49:59 +0000
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