Another Maulidil Rasul.

3.3.2011.

Every 12 Rabi ul Awwal Muslims the world over remember the birth of the Prophet Muhammad saw. That anniversary date was fifteen days ago, but mosques and madrassahs continue to celebrate it well into Rabi ul Akhir. 

Our local community celebrates it next Friday night, with the usual selawat of praises for the Prophet and a ceramah by an invited speaker, followed of course with food and drinks for all. As the practice in the last several years, as chairman of the surau I will have to start the ball rolling with a short introductory speech.

In the past I have touched briefly each time on the various aspects of life of the Prophet, emphasising his daily role as a simple family man in spite of his true greatness as the last Messenger of God. His appearance more than 1,400 years ago has left the remarkable legacy of a faith and a way of life that is embraced by  a third of humanity to-day, and is said to be the fastest growing faith in all of non-Muslim Europe and the Americas. So fast, in fact, that national leaders there are alarmed because of the general misconceptions about Islam in these countries.

This time I intend to touch on importance of studying deeply the spirit of the Prophet's endeavours as the basis to propogating social justice while the world community wallows in greed and selfishness. I intend to implore the audiance the need to go beyond the rote praises for the Prophet, and understand our obligation to fight for decency and a civilised society. The truly wonderous aspect of Islam that Muhammad saw inherit from Abraham and gave finality to the whole world, and not just to tribal Arabia, is the strong emphasis on the welfare of the community, regardless of religion. Especially emphasised are the needs of the downtrodden, orphans, and the fair treatment, not equal treatment, of all members of society. 

I feel the enhanced relevence of these issues in the light of what is now happening in the Middle East. These Arab nations that embraced Islam early  should have been guided in the type of government taught by the Prophet's syari'ah.  They may have been so governed in the past, but somewhere in the last few decades this seemed to have been discarded in one way or another. The lesson shouldn't be lost to Malaysian leaders. 

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