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Tuesday, February 04, 1997
President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak’s Address During Celebrations Marking Laylatul Qadr* The Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar, Reverend Ulemas, Dear Brothers and Sisters, On such a night every year, in the last ten days of this glorified month in which the Holy Qur'an was revealed, we used to meet with amity to celebrate a blessed night which God Almighty called "Laylatul Qadr", the Worthy Night which is better than a thousand nights . It is the night in which the light of revelation revealed to the universe the immortal message of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and praise be upon him), conveying the principles of rightousness and guidance to all people, "Now hath come unto you light from Allah and a plain Scripture, whereby Allah guideth him to seeketh His good pleasure unto paths of peace. He bringeth them out of darkness unto light by His decree, and guideth them unto a straight path." If all Muslims have the right to celebrate such an honourable night by reciting Qur'an, performing prayers and praying to God Almighty for more welfare, then they have to be self-righteous; reconsider their conditions, define the features of the future path for themselves and their nations and their position among peoples who vehemently race to reach superiority, armed by science, creativity and incessant persistent endeavours which emanate from a sincere desire to raise the standard of performance, improve the pattern of life of Muslims,in an age in which barriers between peoples seperating civilizations and cultures have collapsed, where there is no room for isolation, hesitancy or weakness. Nor is there room for futile speeches on the glories of the ancestors, neglecting the burdens of the present and the challenges of the future forgetting God's words: " Those are a people who have passed away. Theirs is that which they earned, and yours is that which ye earn-And ye will not be asked of what they used to do ". Islam, brothers as we knew from the Holy Qur'an and from His Prophet's Teachings and Biography, is a message of goodess, guidance and civilization. It assigns a great responsibility to believers by makin them witnesses on people providing them with the keys to goodness, the values of righteousness and justice and means of success and happiness. Muslims can not fulfil this consignment unless they start by themselves and adopt the moralities, the values and the lessons of the Holy Qur'an and the teachings and the Biography of the Prophet. Therefore, the first step to propagate. Islam, in this age, is to purify the soul to reform the Muslim community and to revive Islamic values and principles, namely, the values of fruitful science, productive work and responsible freedom, which encourages innovation, unleashes talents, makes hearts and minds accept the diversity of opinions and visions, and calls for the respect of other's rights on the basis of the belief in the diversity of opinions and visions since, this diversity is a principle of Almighty God as pinpointed in the Holy Qur'an: Had God willed he could have made you one community. But that he may try you by that which he hath given you. So vie one with another in good deeds. Dear Brothers and Sisters, br> IOn these noble principles, the community of pioneer Muslims depended during the life of the prophet Mohammad and the reign of the Caliph with which Islam spread eastward, westward northward and southward and was embraced by nations of different races, languages and civilizations. They were protected by its justice and tolerance, and treated by mildness and mercy on the basis of equality since only the pious are the most accepted by God. All these nations participated, under the banner of Islam, in building a lofty human civilizaion which benefitted the whole world since it depended on science and the mind by which it highly esteemed surmounted all obstacles in the various domains of science, thought and art. Muslims' contribution to the building and developing of that civilization became a historic fact acknowledged by thinkers and historians in every age and in every place since truth imposes itself on everyone even against the will of the envious. We should also realize that civilizations - like nations - witness days of glory and pride, yet , also days of setbacks and retreats. History tells us that the Arab Islamic civilization was exposed at a later period to a stalemate then a gradual decline. It was a deterioration that struck Muslims when they stopped to practise what they preached, relied on their past instead of attending to the present, and forging ahead through the challenges of the future. Muslims were entangled in futile intellectual and political controversies that shattered their entity and consequenlty fell victims of numerous forms of exploitation, subjugation and heteronomy. A scrutiny of the status quo clearly shows that Muslims today stand at a decisive crossroad making it incumbent upon them to choose; an option that will be of a great effect in crystallizing their future, providing strength to hold on and progress in an age where all others move forward with their potentials and resources into the future, with their eyes set on the far horizon, confident of their ability by science and intellect together to rush into successive revolutions, engraving glorious and stounding pages in the history of existence, disclosing its laws which rule the universe and develop society, and using them all for the benefit of humanity. No senisble faithful Muslim can by any means argue aginst the existence of one and only one choice before the glorious Islamic nation - the best that ever graced the earth, and that is, to wage this battle, accept the challenge, take part in the battle of renewal and development with all its material and moral with foresight that will interpret facts and derive lessons therefrom requirements. Muslims should not lag behind today or abstain from accepting challenges because in their past, their ancestors showed no laxity in keeping pace with civilizaion and modernism, and standing firm in competition. Also, at present they have nothing to hinder their abilities to safeguard their promiment role among nations as they have the power that enables them to competite and be more capable of self-assertion and coping with vistas. The religious and moral values, inculcated in their hearts, are enough to supply them with unshakable strength and unconquerable steadfastness. They must have good intentions, clear visions and deep-rooted unity. They will have no pretext before God Almighty if they fail to face this challenge and score success. They are the sons of the nation whom God addressed in the beginning with "Read". They are the follwers of the religion whose Holy Book taught us that those who have knowledge are not equal to those who haven't. It called on us to exert sincere effort and have a strong will. It urged us to avoid dependence and slackness as God says that He will not change a people's condition until they first change their inner souls. That is the right path to renaissance and progress in a world that has no room for the disabled and the slackers who wait for fate and the generosity of time. All peoples have a definite option where there is only room for the powerful, the fittest and best-equipped for the battle. There is no room for viewers of events and development. There is only room for those who are prepared to wage the battle and be well-equipped with knowledge, experience, science and insight. The last word will finally go to tangible achievement and actual progress not to flashy hopes and dreams. It hurts our feelings and pricks our conscience to find two moslem groups straying away from this righteous path, and lose track of the proper destination. One group belittled worldly affairs; gave them a cold shoulder and devoted themselves to religious rituals only, forgetting that these rituals are mere landmarks on a long road full of movement and activity. If they retreat from worldly life it will be grabed by others, if they slacken and devote themselves to matters unuseful for people's welfare, it would be most certain that others would take over and they would be overtaken by events. In that case they is incapable of following up events contrary to their predecessors who were able to add to the bulk of human knoweledge what other nations acquired and used as basis of their renaissance. Thus they moved forward and progressed while Moslems lagged behind. The other group leaned towards extremism and fanaticism, their hearts no longer could accommodate the tolerance and mercy of Islam, also their minds were too narrow to absorb the vast human erspective. They engaged themselves and those around them with insubstential matters. They gave themseves the right to have control over others and regarded themselves as judges over mamkind, against God's will, creating stumbling blocks and slips, picking at short comings and forging accusations. They have even went beyond extremes via imposing others to uphold what they and their sinful instigators deemed proper in their ailing imagination. They tried to impose intellectual and behavioural attitude on the entire society having no link whatsoever with religious laws or precepts overlooking or intentionally ignoring God's words,"Do you coerce people to become moslems, and His verse "Remind them, for thou art but a reminder, thou art not at all a warder over them." There is a third group comprising parents and instructors who fell short of fulfilling their duties or shoulder the responsbility. They left youth without guidance, and without inculcating the values or principles based on religion and good conduct . They left them in total loss and delusion, leaving them to perish. By so doing they have wasted the nation a generation capable of carrying the future responsbility. This is an infamous, disreputable crime committed not only against themselves and their kins but also against their country, society and above all religion and civilization Due to this impatience, narrow-mindedness and absence of control, a dark falsified image of Islam has emerged contradictory to what we know from the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad. Thus, such a distorted image has come to insult Islam in the core. It is an image that makes more difficult, disunite instead of uniting and fill people's lives with sufferings and embarrassment although God Almighty wanted it to be rich, useful and mericful. Expectedly, others are affected by such a distorted image judging Islam and its principles on these basis: either they lack the ability to distinguish between reality and fancy or right and wrong or some of them are hostile to Islam seizing the opportunity to launch an injust campaign on its teachings. Hence, they attribute fanatcism and extremism to Islam, and indulge in tightening the noose on its failthful followers and putting them unfairly under suspicion. It is worthmentioning in this blessed night to know that it is our duty to combat decisively these images of perversion. We should speak out loud and make it clear through actions not words that God Almighty and Prophet Muhammad are absolved from all that. God Almighty has legislated Islam and sent Prophet Muhammad, a mercy to the whole world. God Almighty has made His rules, rituals and prohibitions sheer justice. No one is asked to do more than he can nor is he deprived from His givings. God Almighty has ordered us to be sympathetic and merciful as it is unforgetable that Prophet Muhammad was keen, in his farewell speech, on urging Moslems not to encroach on others' honour and properties. This is the spirit of Islam; a spirit of tolerance, compassion, cordiality and wise preaching; a spirit preserving individual rights, exalting people's position, calling for charity, forbidding vice, reinforcing people along the path of glory and progress. It is a spirit that creates an equilibrium between rights and duties and differentiating between right and wrong. All these merits of Islam are in virtue of a sound logic and a comprehensive vision paving the way to a constructive life, protecting man from sin and securing him against disobedience. In this blessed night, we pray that God Almighty may make our deeds earnest and useful. May God accept our deeds and prayers filling our hearts with welfare, love, and peace in a night that is " Peace until the break of dawn". Peace be upon you * The 23rd, 25th or 27th night of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan, as well as other nights, have been suggested as the Nights of power, or " Lailatul-Qadr", when the angel Gabriel started conveying revelation, i.e. the Holy Qura’n, to Prophet Mohammad. |
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