As against the crass materialism and cut-throat quest for profit over people that is at the heart of these transnational economic initiatives, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) advocates that true politics of imperium should promote just dealings and benefit common people and the society at large by encouraging charitable giving and developing shared facilities. In this context, Hazrat Saheb (aba) points to some outstanding episodes from global history: the critical role played by exemplary Muslim women such as Hazrat Khadtija (ra), and also a lady of the Ottoman household in leaving an enduring legacy of beneficial giving through Waqf endowments. Both affluence and power are opportunities for doing good, especially for the indigent and other less privileged of the society. May Allah (swt) enable everyone of us to live with a wider consciousness about the state of our world, and seek to improve its situation through doing good, individually and collectively at our own levels, Insha Allah, Aameen.
Read the Friday Sermon Below:
Political Strategies between Pakistan & China
Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, I thank Allah that He has yet again given me the opportunity to present some of the various important aspects of politics, i.e. more specifically the reinforcing of the ties of friendship with other superpowers, and the establishment of some important strategies which would reinforce politico relations between countries. Today, among other things, I will talk to you about the Pakistan-China relationship in terms of investments and others.
The highway runs about
1,300km (800 miles) from Abbattabad in Pakistan to Kashgar (Kashi, in Chinese)
in China, connecting the two neighbours across the Karakorum mountain ranges
and includes the highest border crossing in the world: Khunjerab Pass at an
elevation of 4,714 meters (15,466 feet) which has also become a tourist
attraction.
So, the Karakoram Highway is the main artery between China and Pakistan since it is the only overland link between the two countries. The governments of Pakistan and China started its construction in 1959 and it was opened in 1979. About 810 Pakistanis [civilians] and about 200 Chinese workers lost their lives during the construction work. Landslides, earthquakes and floods are not uncommon in the region, frequently damaging parts of the highway. A reconstruction and upgrade of the Karakoram Highway is underway under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and is said to be essential in the economic success of the Gwadar port. The reconstruction and upgrade is divided in different parts and phases.
The Karakoram Highway
is much more than a road; it’s a rolling, graphic emblem of the China-Pakistan
geopolitical embrace, surmounting all manner of economic, cultural, geological
and security barriers over decades to the benefit of a strategic objective. And
the strategic objective now is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s (CPEC) as
the flagship, Belt Road Initiative project.
Both countries want to
expand its diverse markets through the connecting continents. This Highway has
opened opportunities for them which were not there before. So, whether for
Africa and Pakistan and various other countries, China is quickly becoming one
of the largest superpower after the US. China banking and economic systems work
on their own. They do not rely on the dollar. They are independent of it and
work to reinforce the Chinese Economic Power in the world.
If China like we have
seen in the Russia case were to help and merge with key countries in the world,
it will soon overcome a large part of the world economy. The fear that China is
a great danger for the Islamic system and beliefs remains but the power and
plan of Allah surpasses Insha-Allah, any other plan.
Here I am talking about
China as a strategic political and economic force. Despite its alliance with
Pakistan, this does not mean that it has shaken hands with Islam for Pakistan
is not Islam.
Pakistan like the other Islamic countries elsewhere in the world, mainly Saudi Arabia and Turkey has fallen prey to the West. Everything is being westernized and the key Islamic teachings are being trampled without any fear for the Almighty God Who has forbidden them to do so. But it was not always so. The Islamic setting and position in the world was awe-striking but filled with mercy.
The Ottoman Empire: Waqf & the Righteous Examples of the Women of Islam
During the Ottoman period, many people, including the Sovereign
and his family in the first place, engaged themselves in making a lot of public
improvements through the Waqf
institution, such as mosques, schools libraries, public kitchens to serve the
poor and the destitute, Madrassas, arcades, fountains, roads, bridges, castles,
picnic places, care houses for widowed and orphans and kindergartens, among
others.
The existence of women among Waqf founders like Bezmialem is as important as the Waqf institution itself because this
shows that the Ottoman women could entitle themselves to property and had a
crucial say in economic life.
Waqf is one
of the institutions that constituted the backbone of the Ottoman society.
Nearly all societal needs were met by way of institutions, the legal
stipulations and principles laid down by the founders were generally well abode
by. Among the people to whose names Waqfs
were designated, there could be found persons from all sectors of the society
including, first and foremost, the Sultan and his family.
During the Ottoman era, the number of women who instituted Waqfs was quite significant; women from
all social strata, from royal sultans occupying the highest echelon of society
to ordinary women living in small borough have contributed in varying degrees to
the founding and running of Waqfs.
Women of the Ottoman dynasty, at whose disposal there were naturally immense revenues,
have established Waqf complexes in
Istanbul as well as in many settlement of Anatolia, thus giving service to
wider areas and sectors of the empire in proportion to their command of
material resources. Valide Sultans often used to have a hand in state affairs
and influence the decisions taken by their sons.
Throughout the Ottoman realms, the Waqf was without any doubt, the primary philanthropic institution
which had long served as a major instrument for delivering public goods. For
six centuries, the Ottomans largely succeeded to eradicate poverty through Waqf via a voluntary transfer of wealth
from the rich to the poor and the latter were fed and taken care of in a
decentralized manner.
Following the footsteps of other influential Ottoman women,
Bezmialem was a patron of arts and architecture. She patronized the
implementation of several projects that could be deemed as Sadaqa Jariya
(continuous and permanent charity) for the benefits of public. In 1845, she
commissioned a wooden bridge at the Golden Horn, known as the Cirs-i-Cedid (new
Bridge), and Valide Bridge. The same year, she commissioned the “Gureba-yi-Muslimin”
hospital, a fountain, and a mosque in Yenibahce. She also founded the Dolmabahce
palace. The mosque consists of a small though lofty dome prayer hall that is
preceded by an extensive, truly palatial-looking pavilion. The construction of
the mosque began before her death and was completed after her death.
We see here that the women of Islam enjoyed and still
enjoys all the vital rights to food, shelter, property and decision-making, but
alas though they continue to hold all rights but these rights are trampled
under the non-Islamic systems in the world today. The West – i.e. mainly the
Christian and Jewish ideologies have overcome today’s global society, just like
the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had predicted.
Hazrat Abu Sa’id
al-Khudri (ra) reported the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) as saying: “You would
tread the same path as was trodden by those before you inch by inch and step by
step so much so that if they had entered into the hole of the lizard, you would
follow them in this also. We said: ‘Allah’s Messenger, do you mean Jews and
Christians (by your words) ‘those before you’?’ He said: ‘Who else (than those
two religious groups)?’” (Bukhari, Muslim)
Though we, Muslims hold
all fundamental Islamic rights as given to us by our Almighty Allah, yet the
other powers have succeeded in overpowering us. Why? Why has Islam both as a Way
of Life and Spiritual Pathway regressed instead of progressed? This is because
we have had blind faith in the promises of the West instead of placing our
trust in Allah alone. This is because the Muslims have let go of the Rope of
Allah and become divided, this is because manly arrogance have again subdue the
women like the servants and slaves of old. Though the women appear to be
emancipated and free, yet they lack spirituality. This is because the mosques of
Allah have been for a very long time been closed for them, and instead of the
mosque, they were directed by the men to go plead others than Allah on
mausoleums of dead people.
But the first women of
Islam were the pioneers of Islam. Even the very first believer of Islam, after
the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself is a woman. It was his first wife
Hazrat Khadtija (ra) who was his staunch follower and comforter. Islam shows us
that the woman’s place is not only reserved for the running of their own household,
but also to take care of the household of Islam. Educate a woman in Islam and
you will educate a whole nation. The spiritual feeding of a woman is vital to
build the foundation of a greater and more solid nation of Islam. The women
should be respected and given priority in matters of faith and even the men, be
them their fathers, brothers and husbands are encouraged to take good care of
them so that they may be firmly established and well-versed in the matters of
faith, and in return they can educate and help on their own the whole nation of
Islam.
The examples of Hazrat
Khadtija (ra) and the Valide Sultan of Turkey are but one example of the power
of the rich women at the top position of the social ladder. Despite opulence,
the Muslims, be it men and women should not forget to help the poor and they
should bear in mind that all these riches are temporal and can pose a threat to
them in matters of their life in the hereafter. The more they share and help
build the society of Islam and help the poor, the better.
The goal of Islam is
not to integrate few countries to Islam. It is a global invitation for the best
reform that man can enable in him through the mighty help of Allah. This help
can be achieved through prayer and goodness. This goodness involves helping the
Deen of Allah to advance, to progress. The women as key factors of the
Islamic society are the carvers of the society. It is the women who shape the
mindset of men by the will of Allah. Good women give the right advice and
enable the males of their family and society to go from progress to progress.
So, Islamic countries
should strive to empower themselves for the cause of Islam, and all relations
with others should be based on establishing the pure teachings of Islam in
those countries and not to fall prey to their worldly and very temporary
attraction. Muslims should be generous to others while being cautious in
guardian their Iman (faith) and not let go of it, come what may.
We, the Jamaat Ul Sahih
Al Islam should strive to be model Muslims with the best interest of Islam at
heart. Nothing is important than obeying the commands of Allah and establishing
ourselves on His Tawheed (unity). Allah required us to turn exclusively to Him
and worship Him and to invite others to Him and make them abandon the false
deities of their imagination.
Insha-Allah, let us all focus and strive for the Victory of Allah, the victory of Islam, reviving the spiritually dead and making them alive in the pure Deen of Allah. We need to extend our help to those who need our help, all for the sake of Allah. Insha-Allah, may the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam be protected from the evils of the Satan and the lures of this world and all my true disciples prosper and take the Community of Islam from success to success. Insha-Allah, Ameen.