The Sanctity of Places of Worship

 

In democratic theory, freedom of religion includes freedom to profess, practice, and propagate the beliefs that are closely held by a person and worship in a place of worship with security, regardless of what others think about his beliefs, or faith. Yet, in actually existing conditions in our societies, often majoritarian groups try to control and limit the freedoms of worship available to minority religious groups, often attacking the places of worship of such minority groups. Indeed, in an era of identity politics, inter-religious tensions as well as intra-religious sectarian strife within communities, places of worship of different religious communities bear the 'markings' of the times.

Consider the recent inaugural of a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya in India. At the very place where a historic Masjid of the Muslim community stood for close to four-centuries, after destroying the Masjid, a Hindu Temple is recently built over there, after the country's top court endorses Hindu claims over the mosque on the basis of religious majoritarianism! While Hindu extremists executed the despicable crime of destroying the historic Masjid after a vicious hate campaign against the Muslim minority, the Indian State-despite its supposed secular neutrality- exonerated and rewarded, rather than punishing, the thugs involved in the horrific crime. [Inset: Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, a picture from the 19th century, taken by Samuel Bourne, sourced from Wikipedia]. 

While in India, extreme-rightwing Hindu assertions of majoritarianism trump the rights of the Muslim minorities on a range of issues; in Pakistan, it is Sunni fundamentalism that thrives at the cost of other minority groups within- such as the Ahmadi Muslims. For the Ahmadis of Pakistan, in the last several decades, the freedom to worship in a place of their choice without hindrance is at stake due to the Mullahs calling the shots in society through blasphemy laws and violent mobilizations, attacking Ahmadi mosques and killing Ahmadis- painting a bloody picture of gross distortion of foundational Islamic teachings by the far right among the Muslims. [Inset: debris of an Ahmadi mosque demolished in Sialkot, Pakistan, May 2018].       

 

Against this backdrop, in his Friday Sermon of 28 June 2024~21 Dhul-Hijjah 1445 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius reflects profoundly on Islamic teachings on the sanctity of places of worship. Hazrat Saheb (aba) gives an exposition, and underscores the need for all Muslims to understand, respect and adhere to correct teachings of Islam when it comes to our approach towards the places of worship of other communities as well as fellow groups within the Muslim community. 

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:

India @ 77: A Special Message

 

In a special message sent to the Hon’ble President of India, Mrs. Droupadi Murmu, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius shared the greetings of peace and good wishes for the great people of India on the occasion of the nation’s 77^th Independence Day.

At almost 1.4 billion, India is the world’s most populous nation and largest democracy, with the people professing a multitude of faiths and observing diverse cultural traditions and food practices, and speaking numerous languages in distinct regions. The country is bound together by a Constitution drafted by the leaders of the national movement that fought for independence from British imperialism. Indeed the nation’s constitutional norms reflect the values of the great struggle for freedom and equality in India, and celebrate the dignity and rights of the people in their incredible diversity. However, with the increasing assertion of total dominance by the majoritarian ruling dispensation  and its tactics of pitting the dominant community against the minorities, the original social contract of federal distribution of powers as well as individual  rights is fraying at the seams today. The great occasion of national independence is a time for all Indians not only to do thanksgiving, expressing gratitude for God’s mercy on this ancient land, but also to do deep soul-searching in a spirit of humility and prayer for guidance for the nation in the crossroads of time.   

Hazrat Imam Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah’s special message on the auspicious occasion of the celebration of freedom in India is also a gentle reminder of the duty and responsibility of nations- large and small- to embrace the diversity created by God in this world and to abide by the fundamental human values of peaceful coexistence and shared living in our multicultural world.   

Read the Text of the Special Message below:

The Plans of Modern Pharaohs

 

The rise of authoritarian strongmen- 'modern Pharaohs' as it were- in numerous countries in recent times through either military takeovers, or by deeply-flawed but populist ('democratic') processes threaten true freedom every where. Countries with dangerous imperial delusions and territorial expansion plans include Russia under Vladimir Putin; China under Xi Jinping; India under Narendra Modi, and Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu. While each of these nations know that international law does not legitimate military conquest and foreign occupation, they plan that 'stealth' and 'subterfuge' can carry their secret plots to fruition: the acquisition and control of territories through any means, including war. Likewise, the return to power in Kabul by the Taliban; by other equally vicious military oligarchs in North Korea, Myanmar, Mali, Sudan, Tunisia, Nicaragua and Egypt mean an era of political repression and glaring injustice for the people of these unfortunate countries. It is also instructive to note that many other nations are also arming themselves to the teeth; preparing themselves for the  'Wars of the future'. 

Against this grim backdrop of international political and strategic developments with the rise of modern pharaohs, in his Friday Sermon of 25 November 2022 ~30 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius continues his series of reflections on the challenges confronting international freedom, peace and tranquillity.    

Read the Friday Sermon Below: 

The Modern Pharaohs of this World & Their War Strategies

The pharaonic dynasty was about horrible tyrants who claimed to be all-powerful gods, and they made their people worship them. They amassed unfathomable wealth and power, while the masses, as always, laboured to survive. They built huge monuments to their own praise, big slabs to flatter their ego, to impress their followers and foreign powers with their stature and might. They abused their authority at every turn, killed off the opposition, tortured, maimed, plotted, connived, and clung to power by every means imaginable. And their legacy [i.e. their evil, their thirst for power, grandeur and wealth] has persisted until today.

 

It is well established among the people of all religions, especially, the three main monotheistic ones, i.e. Muslims, Jews and Christians, that Pharaoh was one of the worst disbelievers in God; in fact, in the Quran, Allah does not tell the story of any disbeliever by name more than the story of Pharaoh, and He does not tell us more detail of the disbelief, transgression and arrogance of any disbeliever more than He tells us about Pharaoh.

The Freedom of Women

In his Friday Sermon of 07 January 2022~ 04 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1443 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius speaks about the evils and dangers lurking beneath contemporary conceptions of women's freedom. The prevailing Western cultural model, or the unbridled pursuit of individual ecstacy at any quest, has twisted people's thoughts on women's liberation.  Hence, the current notions of 'freedom' in the West, ironically and actually, 'enslaves' women within a consumerist, capitalist, and hedonistic cultural milieu of commodification- literally trapping them within a male-centric world of objectification, with its constant need on its victims to 'fitting in' to the male-gaze, and worst abuses (treating women as 'use' and 'throw' chattels; sexual anarchy, abortions; break-down of family system, with increase in divorces and drug addictions) all around.  As true freedom indicates the ability to make well-reasoned choices  in a fully-informed manner about the good and the bad in life, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) calls attention  to the well-balanced Islamic values that safeguard women's role, agency and rights within the social order, and underscores the need for infusing true values of Islamic life in the younger generation so as to prepare them for cultural encounters in the West. 

Read the Friday Sermon Below:   

The Fiery End of Lars Vilks

 

'Say, 'Think: if the punishment of God should come to you, suddenly or foreseeably, would anyone but the evildoers be destroyed?'---Qur'an, 6: 48.

Mr. Lars Endel Roger Vilks, the Swedish man who created great international controversy over the last decade with his incendiary caricatures of Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) with the body of a dog, met with a fiery end on Sunday, 03 October 2021. A fatal car crash on a motorway literally burned him to death, and reduced the body into ashes within a short time. It appeared as though no amount of physical security arranged by the Swedish government, or other emergency services  could save him from being consumed by an explosive fire destined for him on that day of misfortune. Global media prominently reported on this traffic accident: “Lars Vilks was charred to death when his car caught fire after an accident with a truck. The incident took place near the southern town of Markaryd. He was travelling in a police car that collided with a truck. Two police officers were also killed”. 

Vilks was a deliberate offender; as he ‘knew’ what he was doing. Calling someone, anyone, a dog is deeply offensive- an insult of the highest order- least of all the spiritual father of a global Faith community, and he sought to justify his despicable crime on the so-called high moral high ground of ‘unfettered artistic freedom’ to offend and shock people’s sensibilities. No wonder, the deeply-insulting caricatures depicting their spiritual father, the Holy messenger of Allah (swt) Hazrat Muhammad (sa), caused profound anguish and much anger among the world’s Muslims. 

Balancing 'Freedom'

 

The modern concept of human freedoms and individual rights emerged in the long, complex struggle for a new, social contract between the people and the State in actually-existing social conditions of slavery and serfdom in pre-modern Europe and elsewhere. Against the backdrop of the great struggles for independence from colonial subjugation and imperial practices of racial segregation and social discrimination, people looked upon Constitutionally-guaranteed and legally-defined freedoms as the bulwark against potential oppression and highhandedness of the ruling elites operating in the name of the State.  In Rule of Law theory, it is expected that the provision of separation of powers and the presence of an independent judiciary will facilitate the freedoms of individuals in society.  The proper functioning of the social wheel requires that everyone works within the functional work of personal responsibility and moderation of interests so as to respect the similar rights of others.  

In his Friday Sermon of 25 June 2021~13 Dhul-Qaddah 1442 AH, Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba)of Mauritius initiates a probing discussion on the abuse of 'freedom' in our times by those who reject any limitations and restrictions on their concept of freedom. As Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) notes, such a context-free 'freedom' can have very negative implications: Hate speech, Islamophobia, racial and communal prejudice, bigotry and defamation; capitalist ownership of, and monopoly over Natural Resources, etc. 

The Shariah, or the Islamic Way of Life, contains a framework of ideas for shaping norms based on a true conception of individual freedom blended with social responsibility. Avoiding or evading Divine regulations in the name of 'freedoms' may unsettle the delicate 'balance' the Shariah seeks to achieve among competing public interests in a pragmatic way. While libertarians and anarchists call for freedom and rights for the sake of rights without any restraints and regardless of context; in reality, many nations are passing laws that severely restrict even the freedoms that people have reason to value. Sometimes, the laws made in the Assemblies and Parliaments of the people in various States do not get the balance right as they often 'lean' on the State's need to keep regulatory control and authority firmly in place, and when these man-made laws fail to gain the balance right in their regulations and policies, it invariably impacts peoples' freedoms and the  society's true progress, warns Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba).

Read the Friday Sermon Below:

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:  

Kashmir: A View from Mauritius

In his Friday Sermon of 23 August 2019 ~21 Dhul-Hijjah 1440 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International, Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius spoke on the significance of obedience to God-ordained teachings brought by the Prophets and the saints for the guidance of people in every era. Illustrating the different trajectories in the life and fate of the peoples before Islam, especially with reference to the progeny of Prophet Abraham (as), Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) points to a larger spiritual truth: while those who adhered to the Covenant of God (or the Divine Law) inherited material sovereignty and spiritual blessings in equal measure; the generations of Law-breakers among them were reduced to slavery and servitude under alien occupation, especially when they ignored and trampled to dust the enduring wisdom in the Covenant of God. 

Even as Islam promises material advantage and spiritual fortunes to the true believers; it also warns the community of devotees of God to learn from the mistakes of other nations before them- including the children of Israel who refused to abide by the Pact of God in shaping their destinies. In our own times, Allah (swt) has raised Hadhrat Saheb (atba) with a clear message for the whole of humanity, especially the true believers in the Islamic Way, and he has been repeatedly appraising the world about the messages from the Unseen- revelations that contain pearls of wisdom and dire warning about the many dangers lurking behind for our small world. Commenting on recent political developments around the question of Kashmir, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) calls on both India and Pakistan to respect the dictates of justice and equity and to recognize the wishes of the people of the region- Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.- to exercise their inherent right to self-determination in shaping their common destiny. Speaking also about the on-going natural calamities in India and elsewhere in the region, Hadhrat Saheb (atba) calls the attention of the world for justice, empathy, compassion and solidarity with victims of all catastrophes visiting our common humanity.     

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon Below:   

After the revelations I received in Mandarin on Wednesday, 05 December 2018 at Mathra (Kerala) in Noor’ul Islam Mosque, where Allah made us understand that in the coming days the events that will happen throughout the world will be terrible and Allah has also revealed how much hate Narendra Modi, Donald Trump and the President of China among others (regarding their conflict and hatred) have for Islam and in these revelations there was also the mention of landslides, floods, cyclones, and many other problems around the world.

The Great Conflict in Kashmir & a High-Risk Wager 

Since Monday 05 August 2019, the Indian authorities have shown a very dark face of their history, a total blackout of democracy. The overthrow of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the revocation of Indian Kashmir autonomy is a high-risk wager that could reinvigorate the separatist insurgency and exacerbate tensions with Pakistan. 

In summary, Indian forces in Kashmir were placed on full alert Friday, 09 August 2019, during the Muslim prayer day [Jummah], said the Indian agency PTI, quoting a security official in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Jammu and Kashmir State, of Special Constitutional Status of Jammu and Kashmir, State of North India with a Muslim majority. And so, the terrible decision of the Indian government since its re-election in May to implement this project has caused a wave of panic in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

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?

Moral Values, Changing Times

Today we live in a time when the values ​​of yesteryears have almost disappeared. No more respect for the elders! For example, in the past, teachers were invaluable to their students (the latter had great respect for them), but nowadays this value is lost. Parents are unable to control their children despite religious preaching, the work of NGOs, and the advice of psychologists. Despite all efforts, the situation is not improving. We live in a changing society. With globalization, we are carried away by the current of modernization that takes us away from our values ​​of yesteryears.

The new generation is just following the evolution of society. In the past, schools, Madrasas, as well as parents played their role perfectly to maintain a balance between moral values ​​and the detrimental effects of modernization. But nowadays, parents have lost their authority over their children. Most children do not obey their parents anymore.

Why are our young people devoid of moral values? Could this be due to a loophole in our education system? Are we robotizing our young people through high technology? Politeness and courtesy are almost non-existent among young people. Where are the greetings of yesteryears that flowed from the bottom of our hearts, full of love and friendship?

So who is to blame? We should not play the blame game because all parties are to blame. The parents, the central core of the family have lost their connection with their children. Today, everything is allowed for children. There are no restrictions. Both father and mother are working and the children are left to their own devices without guidance and a good discipline. Now, in a highly technological world, the old-fashioned logic of family unity has given way to a global connection of people of all kinds. Although technology brings some benefits, but unfortunately we are dealing nowadays with its multiple disadvantages as well, those that ruin the physical, moral and spiritual health of children.

Mauritius: Freedom from Slavery

Every year, Mauritius observes a national holiday on February 1^st. For, this day marks a defining moment in the collective memory of the Mauritian people's struggle for dignity and human rights. Almost two centuries ago, it was on this day in 1835 that the abominable practice of Slavery was formally abolished in the Island State, liberating a mass of humanity from the clutches of an oppressive social order. 

The story of how Mauritius- once a virtually uninhabited Island off the southeast coast of Africa, became home to close to 1.5 million people today; professing various faiths- including Hinduism, Christianity, Islam- and speaking different languages, including Creole, French, English, Tamil, Urdu, Hindi and Bhojpuri and Chinese- is a fascinating chapter in the making of the modern world. There is little doubt that the modern identity of Mauritius as ‘a rainbow nation’ is a tribute to the cultural confluences it inherited from its complex past. 

Originally discovered by the Arabs in the 9^th century; successively colonized by the different European powers from the 17th century- the Deutch, the French and the British- in the last four centuries; modern Mauritius is, in many ways, shaped by this Island nation's encounter with the different phases of global capitalism and the trajectories of the European imperial forays into Africa and Asia, including the strategic control of the Indian Ocean region for safeguarding their vital, commercial interests. The detachment of a part of the Mauritian territory- the Chagos Archipelago and offering the same on a virtual, perpetual lease to the United States by the last colonial power- Britain- before the granting of national independence to Mauritius in 1968, continue to remind all of us in the global South about the long shadows of imperial hubris that permanently scar the psyche of nations and peoples. (For a review of the continuing Mauritius-UK dispute over the Chagos Archipelago, click here).

Even as the colonial masters sought to subjugate the nations they conquered through military means, they found it politically convenient to stake the moral high ground of good governance, rule of law and human rights in the shaping of national policies. Hence, the colonial, administrative practices in the Indian Ocean region, including in relation to questions of slavery and ‘rule of law’ in the conquered territories vis-a vis the subjugated peoples, can be seen as a partial concession to the tectonic shifts in the global thinking around questions of human dignity and basic rights. The abolition of slavery in the British colonies and the introduction of the system of ‘contract labour’ with a semblance of rights and privileges for the migrant working class can only be seen against this backdrop.