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Harmony Conference Speech By His Eminence Sh Abdul Quddoos Al Azhari 7 May 24
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
HARMONY
IN A DIVERSE MULTIFAITH WORLD
Presentation by
His Eminence
Sheikh Abdul Quddoos Al Azhari
President and Grand Mufti
Jamiyatu Ulama Australia
7 May 2024
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
الحمد لله رب العالمين حمدا يليق بجلاله وكماله، نحمده ونستعينه، جل
شأنه
وأفضل الصلاة والتسليم على المبعوث رحمة للعالمين، سيدنا وحبيبنا
ومولانا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين.
The Honourable His Excellency Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime
Minister of Malaysia.
The Honourable His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, Secretary General of Muslim World League (Rabita)
The Honourable Senator Dato’ Setia Dr. Haji Mohd Na’im bin Haji
Mokhtar, Minister in the Prime Minister Department
Honourable speakers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters:
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله
وبركاته
I am
delighted to be a part of this historical conference that promotes peace, harmony and unity within diversity. What a wonderful and thought-provoking topic.
Please allow me in my capacity as, the president and Grand Mufti of Jamiyatu Ulama Australia,
to convey the Salaams, best wishes
and
dua of the Muslims of Australia for the success of this conference.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the World Muslim League (Rabita)
and the Secretary General and thank Jakim (Department of Islamic Development
Malaysia) for
organising and coordinating this historical conference and inviting me to be part of this great occasion. I am
honoured and grateful.
The
Honourable His Excellency Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
My dear scholars and fellow speakers, distinguished
guests, brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, supporters of peace,
harmony and unity within diversity.
I would like to thank everyone who has spoken in support for a permanent ceasefire and a just peace in Gaza and in the other trouble spots in the world. The Genocide is happening before our eyes with the support of major world powers, we must continue to strive with all our efforts to stop the genocide and to bring about justice and reconciliation. I salute all the advocates of peace, especially his excellency Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his most courageous stand on this matter (of Gaza, especially in today’s speech and in his interview with German TV).
After Cain killed his brother Abel, humanity received
a warning that is in the Old Testament and in the Qur’an and is in every
teaching: God condemns murder and blesses those who save lives. Murder is a blight on humanity and genocide
leads to the death of humanity. Allah,
Ta’ala says:
مِنْ
أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا
بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ
جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا ۚ وَلَقَدْ
جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ
ذَٰلِكَ فِي الْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ. (المائدة 32)
“For this reason, we decreed for the
Israelites that whoever kills a soul unjustly, or to wreak havoc in the earth,
it would be as if he killed all humanity and however saves a life, it would be
as if he saved all people. And their
messengers came to them with clear signs, but many of them transgress through
the earth.” (The Noble Qur’an 5:32)
It is indeed prophetic that thirteen centuries before
the establishment of the state of Israel, Allah, Ta’ala, mentions the
Israelites in this very context.
And in this context, while we stand witness over the
genocide, most faith leaders are doing little more than words of condemnation
and some, a minority ignominiously make justifications for the rogue state.
If we were true to our covenant with God, we, the
faith leaders would have organised together the largest group of people from
all over the world and we would have been in Gaza under the combined leadership
of all the genuine people of God. We
would have organised the largest human gathering to stop the violence, to save the
Palestinian hostages from torture in Israeli prisons and we would put an end
the occupation. If we do not, then all our sermons and ostentatious regalia
will have no meaning.
If we were all genuine, then no political leader in America, Britain, Germany, France or anywhere would ever be able to fund or arm Israel’s or any other genocide or settler colonialism.
This is what we must do, we must become genuine and
sincere for the sake of humanity.
We have to
exhaust all avenues to save the lives of the people of Gaza and the West Bank
and along with that, save all the oppressed people of the world.
I move to my
next concern and this is the targeting and marginalisation of faith
traditions. Starting with Islam, I want
to say that those who are seeing Islam being attacked and marginalised
throughout the world, would also see, when they talk to members of other faiths
that all faiths are targeted at different levels. They would also see that in some parts of the
world, the members of the one faith are being used against the members of other
faiths. For many who don’t have time to
investigate deeply into the root of the problem, this manufactured antagonism would
naturally make them believe that religious differences are the cause when in
fact they’re not. Those who open their
eyes will see that religious differences are being exploited as one of many
tools. They would also see that other
tools are used to exploit people of the same faith and the same cultural
background.
Over my
decades working for social harmony and cohesion, we have convened and also
participated in hundreds of programs to highlight that people of faith have
many things in common. We also continue
to highlight, that even for those who do not believe in religion, we have our
common humanity. Whether they believe in
creation or not, we say: We all descend from a first human being – “Adam” and
we have all been created from this earth.
Therefore,
the marginalisation of any section of humanity is a blight on all humanity and
the marginalisation and victimisation of Muslims will feed into the anti-faith
narrative and will worm its way into the marginalisation of all faith
traditions.
From my
faith tradition, Allah, Ta’ala says:
وَلَقَدْ
كَرَّمْنَا بَنِى آدَمَ (الإسراء 70)
“We have honoured the human race (the progeny
of Adam)” (The Noble Qur’an
17:70)
Speaking from the
perspective of Islam, I can draw on numerous verses from the Holy Qur’an,
statements from the Hadith of our honourable prophet Muhammad, peace and
blessings upon him, and examples from our rich Islamic history, that show how
my faith directs me to celebrate diversity, to respect the rights of people to
their own views and ideologies and to work with others peacefully for the
common good.
We have the
undisputable history of how Muslims came to the subcontinent and united the
more than 370 small nations into an amazing pre-partition India. Even
post-partition India remains the most populous nation on earth with citizens
from diverse faiths.
We also have the
undisputable history of how Muslims went into Al-Andalus, saved the nation and
its people and transformed it into a prosperous beacon of science and
philosophy that has given a wonderful legacy to the entire human family.
Both India and Spain
today can boast of amazing monuments and scientific achievements that were
introduced by Muslims. India’s Taj
Mahal, built by the Muslim Emperor Shah Jahan is one of the seven wonders of
the world.
This is nothing new
for Islam and Muslims, wherever we go, we bring prosperity, equality, fairness
and respect for all life.
Our faith teaches:
وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا
تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ ۚ (المائدة 2)
“Cooperate in goodness with a
conscious awareness that God is watching, and do not collude on wrongdoing or
transgression.” (The Noble Qur’an 5:2)
Before he passed from
this world, our beloved prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, impressed
upon us that:
“No
person is better than another regardless of their nationality or colour.”
And Allah,
Ta’ala taught us:
"فَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَاءَ
فَلْيَكْفُرْ ۚ" (الكهف
29).
“Whoever wishes to believe may (freely)
do so and whoever wishes to disbelieve may (freely) do so.”
(The Noble Qur’an 18:29)
and
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ ۖ (البقرة
256)
“There is no compulsion in (embracing)
Islam” (The Noble
Qur’an 2:256)
and
وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَآمَنَ مَن فِي الْأَرْضِ
كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا ۚ أَفَأَنتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّىٰ يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ (يونس 99)
“Had your
Lord willed, all those on earth would have believed, you do not have any authority
to compel people to believe.”
(The Noble Qur’an 10:99)
and
وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً
وَاحِدَةً ۖ (هود 118)
“Had
your Lord willed, He would have made humanity into one Ummah (culture,
ethnicity or nation).” (The Noble Qur’an 11:118)
Our diversity dear friends and colleagues is
embellished by our pursuit of harmonious cooperative coexistence. The following two verses give us great
insight into the beauty of difference:
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ
وَاخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ
لِّلْعَالِمِينَ (الروم 22)
“And
from amongst His Signs is the creation of the heavens and earth and the
diversity of your languages and colours.
Indeed, in this are Signs for the learned.” (The Noble Qur’an 30:22)
and
يَا
أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ
شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ
أَتْقَاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ (الحجرات 13)
“O People, We created you from a male and a
female and made you into nations and tribes so that you can learn from and get
to know each other. (Always bear in
mind) that the most honoured amongst you with Allah is the person who is most conscious
of his/her duty before Allah. Indeed,
Allah knows and is well acquainted (with all things).”
(The Noble Qur’an 49:13)
Before I end
my speech, I want to again implore everyone to come together to save the lives
of the courageous Palestinian people, not just with prayer, but also with positive
courageous stands that will enforce a permanent ceasefire and liberation of the
Palestinian people and the oppressed everywhere. Long live Gaza, long live freedom and liberty
for all human beings.
Once
again thank you very much,
may Allah bless you all.
والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
His Eminence Sheikh
Abdul Quddoos Al Azhari,
President and Grand Mufti
- Jamiyatu Ulama, Australia
Founder of the Australian
International Islamic College and
Darul Uloom Islamic
Academy of Brisbane, Australia
Founder of Qalam Group of
Institutions, India