Algeria: Breathing Freedom

   

Much of the Arab world reels under the political consequences of the long colonial subjugation and foreign intervention-induced complications in national social conditions. Even after attaining formal political independence, these nations have been characterized by military dictatorships and 'captive democracies', nullifying expectations of just governance and true freedoms that people have reason to value. Almost invariably, many of these nations  are ruled by modern-day pharaohs of this world: playing God on earth, these pharaohs in their insatiable quest for perpetual power, seek total dominance in the land: the despotic regimes unleash mechanisms of administrative excesses and thought control, choking all critical spaces and voices within. The strategies and tactics invariably lead to political fraud, crony capitalism/economic corruption, and military repression, stifling people's right to good governance and freedom of choice. When injustice penetrates, overwhelms and exhausts state institutions with rampant corruption and pervasive oppression; resistance against evil, revolt against injustice, and rebellion against the oppressive order becomes the duty of the people.

In his Friday Sermon of 24 May 2024, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius provides a deep insight into contemporary political developments, especially with reference to regime change in Algeria against the wider backdrop of the Arab peoples' open revolt against gross abuse of authority by wily politicians and military dictators in their lands in the last decade. In this spiritual discourse, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) underscores the need for Muslims to commit themselves to the Islamic Way and the lawful methods in the fight against political oppression and the social evils within. Moreover, Hazrat Saheb (aba) calls attention to the great need for change and political reforms in the Muslim nations; a transition from military oppression to a peaceful and democratic frame of governance where people are able to breathe freely, and exercise their choices with responsibility and God-consciousness, Insha Allah, Aameen.    

Read the Friday Sermon Below:

'Zalzala Azim' and 'Fath-e-Islam'

 

According to Divine Promise- a grand prophecy preserved in the Holy Qur'an-, the religion of Allah as taught by the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) shall prevail on, and dominate over, all other so-called ideologies of life in the fullness of time. Yet, ironically, several Muslim communities around the world face glaring existential challenges at the hands of the disbelievers today; anti-Muslim forces in different nations are seeking to destroy Muslim communities. The mass expulsions and genocidal violence orchestrated against the Muslims in Palestine, Bosnia, Central African Republic, the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, the Uighur Muslims in China, etc. are emblematic of the grave challenges of identity, dignity and rights of people who believed in Allah (swt) and followed Islam as their religion. Palestine is a symbol of the oppression and destitution, slavery and subjugation that the Muslim Ummah stares in their political fortunes in our times. 

In his Friday Sermon of 18 November 2022~23 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al  Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius closely reviews the continuing  great injustice in Palestine, and also other internal challenges facing the Muslim Ummah in establishing the Faith and its majesty on earth. Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) cautions the Muslim Ummah about the painful consequences of the lack of unity and joint position within the Ummah on common threats and challenges. Narrow self-serving positions, economic interests, national pride, sectarian prejudices and schisms keep the Arab/Muslim world busy in their own silos, blissfully oblivious of the challenges facing the Ummah. In the meanwhile, other powers, like the Satan, can sense opportunities, easily mount and sustain their assault on Islam by picking sides among the believers, as they find the House divided on multiple fault lines.  Be that as it may, Hazrat Saheb (aba) warns the world that anti-Islam forces will not be able to 'finish' Islam through their maverick plots and conspiracies. The chosen messenger of Allah (swt) in this era foretells that the pharaohs of this era will also meet with Divine vengeance when they seek to destroy His religion, and the predominance of His servants and the religion of Allah will unfurl a new dawn in this world, Insha Allah, Aameen.  

The Wider Plan of the USA in favour of Israel

 

Ever since the creation of Israel, Palestine has become a symbol of unjust oppression. Innocents in millions have since then been debarred from their homes and properties. Peace which was their right was snatched away from them when their motherland became the object of a deep war and division.

 

In one way or another, on a daily basis we hear about the horrors committed against the Palestinian people – heart-breaking and sad; it is such a situation which brings tears to the eyes. They are oppressed in all forms and live in an open prison.

Faith: 'Muslims under Trial'

 

In his Friday Sermon of 04 November 2022 ~09 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius calls attention to a very sobering lesson for all true believers in every era: the future and good fortune of a people is linked to their piety and righteousness in life. Likewise, according to sacred spiritual wisdom preserved in the Holy Qur'an, when a people become lawbreakers and deviates from Divine teachings, the quagmire of misguidance, misfortune and enslavement would engulf them in a cycle of never-ending despair and disaster. 

According to the profound wisdom and prescient assessment of the Holy Prophet (sa), fatal flaws can encircle a people under trial when they let go of the true spirit of Faith, embrace materialism and splinter into different sects and political groupings. When they drown in immorality and injustice; worship money and ease; neglect the poor, and oppress the defenceless; become enamoured of other cultures even at the price of one's Faith and corrode the strength of its values through frequent disputes, schism and factional feuds; they themselves will be complicit in external intervention in internal affairs, perpetuating the vicious cycle of degradation of faith and moral fibre and consequent national decadence. Pointing to a sacred tradition of the Holy Prophet (sa) on the aforesaid theme, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) observes in this discourse that each one of the signs of decadence is discernible in the dire state of our world today, especially in the predicament of the Arab nation.        

 

Reflecting on the continuing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories- including East Jerusalem [the land of the holiest Masjid Al Aqsa]- without any fair deal for the people under subjugation for over half a century, and the recent events involving Arab leaders facilitating Israel's integration into the regional rivalry against Iran, in the backdrop of US- scheming in the region; Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) notes the searing reality that despite their public statements, the Arab leaders in the ring show no real commitment to the cause of the Oppressed, as they are more concerned about their own narrow interests of power and pelf. The agony and misfortune of foreign occupation and the humiliation of subjugation today is a grim reminder of the ways in which Divine vengeance engulfs a people under trial, observes Hazrat Saheb (aba) in the discourse.

The Agony of Palestine

'When they enter a country as conquerors, they destroy it and disgrace and humiliate its elite citizens. And these (people) too will do the same'.   (27:35)

The Zionist entity's military conquest of Palestine and the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 created profound consequences for the over a millennium-old Arab way of life in the land. The 'Nakba' (the Palestinian Catastrophe or the destruction of the Palestinian society in 1948) forced millions to leave their homelands and live in exile as refugees or stateless migrants. With the 1967 war, more Arab territory came under Israeli occupation, and the Arabs living in their own lands became a subject people at the hands of the occupying forces (the State of Israel), and the humiliating political, religious  and national conditions continue to engulf the people even after half a century. It is manifestly unacceptable that a State (Israel) perpetrates racist/apartheid policies under their administration. Under international law, the right to national self-determination is a fundamental right of all enslaved peoples who are either under colonial subjugation or foreign occupation. Indeed, the Palestinian people deserve their freedom from slavery and national liberation. [Inset: Israeli soldiers stand guard as Palestinian demonstrators gather during a protest against Israeli settlements in Beita town near Nablus [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters/Al Jazeera]

The recent explosive political situation obtaining in the Occupied Territories of Palestine- Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem -is indicative of the widespread distress the Israeli policies anchored on the dispossession of the Palestinian peoples of their land are causing. While Israeli security and well being is being privileged in media bytes from influential leaders, the everyday struggle of the Palestinian people for dignity and rights and freedom continues to be ignored and trampled upon with impunity. In his Friday Sermon of 09 July 2021~27 Dhul-Qaddah 1442 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius speaks movingly about the precarious situation of the Palestinian people and the need for the international community, especially the United Nations, to "force Israel to end the occupation and find a solution to the endless acts of violence which claim innocent lives on both sides [Muslims-Jews – Palestinians-Israelites]."

Read the Friday Sermon Below:  

Islam and the West: Beyond Identity

More than ever before, individual and social identities are in flux. Ways of life as understood in both tradition-bound societies, and also in the advanced industrialized nations, are shifting under the strong currents of economic globalization and associated transformations. The usual lense of 'spiritual' East and 'materialist' West does not really explain the creeping changes around the world. In his Friday Sermon of 04 January 2019~ 27 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1440 AH,  Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius spoke about the growing churning happening in the Arab-Islamic world and in the West, pointing to a deep irony: whereas a 'god-less' Europe increasingly appreciates the values of diversity and humanitarianism at the root of a spiritual outlook; the rich-Arab States-despite their claims of faith in God- are increasingly turning to materialism and are virtually indifferent to the solidarity obligations of core Islamic values. Pointing to the inherent limitations of synthetic materialism to sustain human interest over the longer term and the profound appeal of the spiritual path in the inner quest of people for lasting happiness; Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) highlights the major opportunity it represents for Islam to fill the growing 'emptiness' in the West, even as the Speech underscores the profound need for the Muslim societies' in our times to appreciate and reclaim their pure faith/spiritual legacy from corrupting influences that grip their social orders: the 'worship' of riches;  denial of human rights; mindless extremism, internecine violence, etc. 

Read the Friday Sermon Below:   

SPIRITUALITY AND MATERIALISM

There is a common belief among us that the Arabs and Muslims in general are spiritual while the West, i.e. industrialist and capitalist American and European societies, is materialistic. But how true is this claim?

Global Corruption and Political Ferment

“Let Go of Corruption & Embrace True Devotion!

“Corruption has spread on land and sea of what men’s hands have wrought, that He may make them taste (the fruits) of some of their doings, so that they may turn back (from evil).” (30: 42)

“The Hour has drawn nigh, and the moon is rent asunder.” (54: 2)

The centuries prior to the advent of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) witnessed a steady decline in human affairs. Looking back, worsening political and social conditions are apparent on an international scale in the histories of nations situated in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Arabian countries. Such times witnessed also the advent of prophets, reformers and Warners to give an alert to the situations prevailing in religious, human and even political affairs. These days even the islands are not spared from these degradations and sorrowful states. Mauritius, despite being a Paradise Island has also been infected with these kinds of corruption, in every field.

The Holy Quran as a valuable source of information and guidance throws much light on the subject.

Palestine: Israel's War crimes

Rabbih-kum bil-haqq! Wa rabbunar-rahmanul musta-'aanu 'aala maa tasifoon. 

“My Rabb (Lord)! You decide with truth. And our Rabb (Lord) is the Rahman (Most Gracious) whose help is invoked against what you attribute.”

The month of Ramadan, as well as the Eid festival and these difficult days witnessed to a deep sorrow for I could not from my mind those pictures of small innocent Palestinian children killed by the Israelite army. During the month of Ramadan I was terribly overthrown with the shocking pictures of innocent children torn down by bombs.

How can we think that is no problem in Muslim countries when each day, in front of your eyes, parents are carrying the coffins of their children? How can we celebrate festivals, eating and drinking and enjoy ourselves when all these people, all these families have nothing to eat and drink, have nothing with which to clothe themselves properly, have no place to accomplish their Salat (prayers) and not even water to drink and make ablution (Wu’zu)? These are mourning days for me. I ask myself how the Nobel Prize could have been given to Barrack Obama who is a passive accomplice of this tragedy! We should have a special thought for all these Palestinians who are being killed daily, dying as martyrs under the bombs of the Israelites. 

There are lessons to be learned from the tragedy of Palestine. While Palestinians are dying without food, their rich Arab cousins ​​in Dubai and Kuwait are competing to build the tallest skyscrapers in the world. Where is the unity of the Ummah ? Arab countries keep a low profile, watching like spectators. Previously it was said that the Ethiopians were searching in garbage cans for food. Today the Libyans, Syrians, despite living in rich countries search garbage cans for food. There is the absolute need to recover the lost unity. Divided like this, the Arab countries are getting trampled upon. I personally cannot help being deeply upset, shocked and confused, throughout the month of Ramadan by the events in the Middle East.