{"id":115222,"date":"2021-06-14T16:11:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T23:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=115222"},"modified":"2021-06-14T16:11:55","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T23:11:55","slug":"an-address-by-ahmadiyya-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/06\/14\/an-address-by-ahmadiyya-head\/","title":{"rendered":"An address by Ahmadiyya Head."},"content":{"rendered":"

By A. Abdul Aziz.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The Gist of the Address by the\nWorldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community <\/em>the Fifth\nKhalifah (Caliph), His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad<\/em> at the\nUNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France <\/em>on 8<\/em>th<\/sup><\/em> October\n2019. The event was attended by over 80 dignitaries and guests, including\ndiplomats, politicians, academics and the representatives of think tanks as\nwell as business leaders and various other professions. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hazrat\nMirza Masroor Ahmad\n<\/sup>said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfounding objectives of UNESCO are excellent and praiseworthy. Amongst its\nobjectives are fostering peace and respect, promoting the rule of law, human\nrights and education across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNESCO\nalso advocates for press freedom and protecting different cultures and\nheritages. Another of its stated goals is to eradicate poverty, to promote\nsustainable global growth and development and to try to ensure that humanity\nleaves behind a positive legacy, from which future generations can benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\nmay be surprised to learn that Islamic teachings require Muslims to work\ntowards fulfilling these same objectives and to continually strive for the\nprogress of humanity. Such service is based upon the very first chapter of the\nHoly Quran, which states that Allah the Almighty is the Lord of all the\nworlds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nIslam, the philosophy of punishment or sanction established by God Almighty is\nweighted more towards the hereafter, whilst in this life, Allah the Almighty\ncontinues to manifest His Grace and Mercy upon the world. By instructing\nMuslims to adopt His ways, Allah the Almighty has instructed them to show\ncompassion and sympathy to their fellow creation. In light of this, it is a\nreligious obligation on Muslims to fulfil the requirements of other people,\nirrespective of religion, culture or ethnicity and to always be kind and\nempathetic to the emotions and needs of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover,\nthe Holy Quran has pronounced that the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and\nblessings of Allah be upon him) was sent to the world by God Almighty as a\nsource of unparalleled mercy and benevolence for all humanity. He was the\npractical manifestation of the compassionate teachings of Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nHoly Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was elected as the head of state and under his\nleadership, the covenant proved to be a magnificent charter of human rights and\ngovernance and it ensured peace between the different communities. The Prophet\nof Islam (PBUH) established an impartial judiciary for dispute resolution. He\nmade it clear that there would be one law for the rich and powerful and for the\npoor and weak and all people would be treated equally according to the law of\nthe land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nexample, on one occasion, an affluent lady committed a crime and many people\nsuggested that, given her high standing in society, it was better to turn a\nblind eye to her crimes. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) rejected their advice\nand made it clear that even if his daughter committed an offence, she too would\nbe subject to the law and no favouritism or nepotism would occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\naddition, the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) established an excellent education\nsystem, through which the intellectual standards of that society were raised.\nLiterate and well-educated people were instructed to teach the illiterate.\nSpecial measures were put in place to provide education to orphans and other\nvulnerable members of society. This was all done so that the weak and powerless\ncould stand on their own two feet and advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\ntaxation system was established, whereby taxes were levied on wealthier members\nof society and the proceeds were used to provide financial aid for disadvantaged\nmembers of society. According to the teachings of the Holy Quran, the Prophet\nof Islam (PBUH) established a code of business and financial ethics to ensure\nthat trading was fair and honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nan age when slavery was rampant and slave-owners treated their slaves\nmercilessly, the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) sought to bring about a revolution in\nsociety. Slave-owners were ordered to treat their slaves with compassion and\nrespect and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)\nrepeatedly urged them to free them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also,\nunder the leadership of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), a system of public\nsanitation was developed. A city cleaning programme was implemented and people\nwere educated about the importance of personal hygiene and physical health. The\nroads of the city were expanded and improved. A census was conducted to collect\ndata and to identify the needs of the citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving\non, in terms of the teachings of Islam, it is a cause of profound sadness that\nin today\u2019s world, the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be\nupon him) has been grievously mischaracterised. He has been branded as a\nbelligerent leader, when nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nreality is that the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) spent every moment of his life\nchampioning the rights of all people and through the teachings of Islam, he\nestablished an incomparable and timeless charter of human rights. For example,\nhe taught that people should respect the beliefs and feelings of one another.\nThey should abstain from criticising what others held sacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once,\na Jewish person came to him and complained about the conduct of one of his\nclosest companion. The Prophet of Islam (PBUH) summoned him and asked what had\ntranspired. He said that the Jew had claimed that Moses (peace be upon him) was\nsuperior in rank to the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon\nhim) and he could not tolerate this. He had strongly refuted it and said that\nthe Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was of a\nhigher rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon\nthis, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) expressed his displeasure with his\nclosest confidant and said that he should not have argued with the Jew and\nshould instead have respected his religious sentiments. These were his peerless\nteachings and in my view, it is deeply regrettable that the principle of mutual\nrespect, which is the means of establishing love and unity, has been sacrificed\nin the modern world in the name of so-called freedom and even in the name of\nentertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nterms of fulfilling the rights of the weak and poor, the Holy Prophet of Islam\n(PBUH) established various schemes and projects to raise their standards of\nliving and to ensure that they were not deprived of their dignity. He said that\nwhilst most people afforded a high status to those who were wealthy and\npowerful, a poor person who was moral and considerate had far greater value,\nthan a rich person who cared not for the feelings of others and merely lived\noff his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nin small matters, the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) paid great attention to\nensuring that the feelings of underprivileged people were protected. For\nexample, he instructed Muslims to always invite the poor and needy to their\ndinner parties or social gatherings. If less affluent people were exploited by\nthe rich or powerful, the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) instructed his followers to\nhelp the weaker party attain justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nissue often raised is of women\u2019s rights and it is often alleged that Islam\ndenies women\u2019s rights. Nothing could be further from the truth! Rather, Islam\nestablished the rights of women and girls for the first time. At a time when\nwomen and girls were discriminated against and often looked down upon, the Holy\nProphet of Islam (PBUH) instructed his followers to ensure that girls were\neducated and respected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed,\nhe said that if a person had three daughters, whom they educated and guided in\nthe best way, they would be sure to enter paradise. This is contrary to the\nextremist\u2019s claim that a violent Jihad and the slaughter of non-Muslims will\ntake a person to heaven. The Prophet of Islam (PBUHs) taught that the way to\nenter heaven was by educating and instilling moral values within girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based\nupon these teachings, Ahmadi Muslim girls across the world are educated and are\nexcelling in various fields. They are becoming doctors, teachers and architects\nand entering other professions through which they can serve humanity. We ensure\nthat girls are given equal access to education as boys. Hence, the literacy\nrate of Ahmadi Muslim girls in the developing world is at least 99%. Besides\neducation, Islam was the religion that first gave women the right to\ninheritance, the right to divorce and many other human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore,\nthe Holy Prophet (PBUH) emphasised the rights of one\u2019s neighbours and said that\nAllah the Almighty had placed such great emphasis upon their rights, that he\ncame to think that neighbours would be classed amongst a person\u2019s rightful\nheirs. Thus, the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) established universal human rights\nthat were due to each individual, irrespective of their beliefs, social status\nor ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nhave just spoken about how the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) focused a great\ndeal on the importance of education. This was reflected in the aftermath of the\nfirst battle in the history of Islam. Despite being extremely ill-equipped they\nwere able to defeat the much stronger Makkan army with the help of Allah the\nAlmighty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nreality, if the early Muslims engaged in warfare it was always defensive and\nfought for the sake of establishing long-term peace and to protect the right of\nall people to live with freedom. If countries adopt unjust and extreme\npolicies, their goals are invariably linked to gaining geo-political benefit\nand asserting their dominance over others. Their conduct has nothing to do with\nIslam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nHoly Quran states very clearly that there should be no compulsion in matters of\nfaith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nallegation levelled against Islam by certain critics is that it is a backward\nand archaic religion or one that does not promote intellectual advancement.\nThis is a lazy stereotype that is based on fiction rather than fact. It is a\nbaseless allegation. The Holy Quran itself has signified the importance of\neducation by teaching the prayer: O my Lord, increase me in knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where\nthis prayer is a source of great help to Muslims, it also inspires them towards\nlearning and advancing the cause of human knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntruth is that the Holy Quran and the teachings of the Holy Prophet of Islam\n(PBUH) inspired the works of generations of Muslim intellectuals, philosophers\nand inventors in the Middle Ages. Indeed, if we look back more than a\nmillennium, we see how Muslim scientists and inventors played a fundamental\nrole in advancing knowledge and developing technologies, which transformed the\nworld and remain in use today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nexample, the first ever camera was developed by Ibn Haytham and his\nrevolutionary work was recognised by UNESCO, when he was declared as a \u2018pioneer\nof modern optics.\u2019 It is also interesting to note that the word \u2018camera\u2019 is\nderived from the Arabic word \u2018qamara\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe 12th<\/sup> Century, a Muslim\ncartographer produced what was regarded as the most extensive and accurate\nworld map of the medieval times, which was used for centuries by travellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore,\nin the field of medicine, many Muslim physicians and scientists made great discoveries\nand pioneered many inventions that remain in use today. Many of the surgical\ninstruments were pioneered by the Muslim physician Al-Zahrawi in the 10th<\/sup> Century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe 17th<\/sup> century, an English\nphysician, William Harvey famously carried out what was considered as\nground-breaking research regarding blood circulation and the functioning of the\nheart. However, it was later discovered that more than 400 years before\nHarvey\u2019s research, Ibn Nafees, an Arab physician, had already detailed the\nbasics of pulmonary circulation in an Arabic textbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe 9th<\/sup> century, Jabir ibn\nHayyan brought about a revolution in the field of chemistry. He invented many\nof the basic processes and apparatus still in use today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nprinciples of Algebra were first developed by a Muslim, as was much of the\ntheory of Trigonometry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe modern world, algorithms are the basis of modern computing technology and\nthey too were first developed by Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncontribution of Muslims to intellectual enlightenment is still recognised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence,\nfrom the outset, Islam emphasised the immense value of learning and pushing the\nboundaries of human knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since\nit was founded in 1889, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has always promoted\neducation amongst its members. With the Grace of Allah, the very first Muslim\nNobel Laureate was an Ahmadi Muslim, Professor Dr Abdus Salam, an eminent\nphysicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979. Throughout his life,\nProfessor Salam spoke of how Islam, and the Holy Quran in particular, was the\ninspiration and guiding light behind his work. In fact, he used to say that\nthere were around 750 verses in the Holy Quran directly related to science and\nwhich enhanced our understanding of nature and the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certainly,\nwe believe that access to education is key to breaking the cycle of poverty\nthat has plagued economically weak countries for generations. We learn this\nfrom the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who\nurged Muslims to fund the education of vulnerable members of society, such as\norphans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\ntaught that spiritual advancement was intrinsically linked to serving humanity and\nso a Muslim could not attain the love of God Almighty just through worship and\nprayer, rather the love of God Almighty required Muslims to serve humanity.\nThus, in chapter 90, verses 15 to 17 of the Holy Quran, Muslims are instructed\nto work to eradicate hunger and poverty, to fulfil the needs of orphans and to\neducate vulnerable and poor children, so that opportunities open up for them to\ndevelop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nall parts of the world, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community acts upon these noble\nteachings to the best of our abilities. We believe that Islam is a religion of\nlove and compassion and so we serve humanity without making any distinction\nbased on the religion or ethnicity of those who we help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\nare all basic human rights and so until we help people flee poverty and\ndestitution, we will not see true peace in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nthe end, I pray with all my heart that mankind forsakes greed and forgoes the\npursuit of narrow self-interests and instead focuses on relieving the pain and\nanguish of those who are suffering in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source:\nwww.alislam.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By A. Abdul Aziz. The Gist of the Address by the Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community the Fifth Khalifah (Caliph), His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France on 8th October 2019. The event was attended by over 80 dignitaries and guests, including diplomats, politicians, academics and the representatives of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}