Four-day World Sufi Forum in Delhi which witnessed gathering of prominent Sufi leaders from across the world made a unanimous call for peace and compassion. At the meet, Sufi leaders from Canada, US, UK, South Africa and Pakistan condemned terrorism and violence.
Source: At World Sufi Forum, Leaders Call For Peace, Condemn Violence
Devotees not only from different parts of Kashmir thronged the shrine but also from Gujarat, Mumbai, Kolkata, Rajasthan also visited the shrine of the saint in Char-i-Sharief.
The 596th Urs of Hazrat Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani (RA) was observed with great religious fervour and gaiety across Kashmir on Sunday.
The largest gathering was held at the shrine of Sheikh-ul-Aalam at Chrar-i-Sharief in Budgam district where thousands of devotees paid obeisance to the great Kashmiri saint.
Devotees not only from different parts of Kashmir thronged the shrine but also from Gujarat, Mumbai, Kolkata, Rajasthan also visited the shrine of the saint in Char-i-Sharief.
Religious scholars and preachers while paying rich tributes to the saint appealed people to follow the teachings of Sheikh-ul-Aalam (RA). They said that Sheikh-ul-Aalam (RA) was a true teacher, leader, saint, a religious poet and a devoted personality who taught everyone the perfect way of life and hereafter. Meanwhile, Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed felicitated people on the occasion of Urs. In his message, Mufti Sayeed asked people to follow the teachings of the great saint who preached message of amity and brotherhood. “His spirituality and simple life attracted people from all walks of life. His poetic verses on environmental protection hold relevance even today,” he added.
The Chief Minister directed the district administration to oversee arrangements and ensure all facilities, especially power, water and transport, are extended to the devotees who throng Chrar-e-Sharief in large numbers on Urs days.
Source: Urs of Sheikh-ul-Aalam (RA) observed, CM greets people
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Tribune News ServiceSrinagar, September 21
The annual Urs of Mir Syed Ali Hamadani, who is known as Shah-e-Hamadan by devotees, was observed with religious fervour today.
After night-long prayers and supplications, devotees from all over the Valley thronged ‘Khanqah-e-Moala’ – the shrine of the Sufi saint, which is located in the old city on the banks of the Jhelum, throughout the course of the day.
The area outside the shrine wore a festive look with roadside vendors selling a whole lot of eatables and other items. Devotees were seen feeding pigeons that are usually present at the shrine in a large numbers.On the occasion, religious heads also threw light on the teachings of Shah-e-Hamadan, who is credited with having spread Islam in the Valley.
A caretaker of the shrine said the unique feature of the Urs Shah-e-Hamadan in the Valley was the reciting of Persian and Kashmiri eulogies in chorus during the religious functions. He said devotees also recite ‘Aurad-e-Fatiha’ on the occasion.
Shah-e-Hamadan had arrived here in 1384 AD and besides preaching Islam, the saint also introduced Persian handicrafts in the Valley. His followers popularised shawl and carpet weaving thereby boosting the economy of Kashmir. Meanwhile, Grand Mufti Bashir-ud-Din Ahmad paid rich tributes to Shah-e-Hamadan. “Through his righteous deeds, Hazrat Mir Syed Ali Hamadani changed the course of Kashmir’s history and brought about a great revolution,” he said.
Source: Urs of Shah-e-Hamadan observed
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Source: Islamic climate declaration calls for fossil fuel phase out
Islamic scholars from around the world have endorsed a declaration calling on nations to phase out greenhouse gas emissions and switch to 100% renewable energy.
The Islamic Declaration on Climate Change will be seen as the religion’s major contribution ahead of the UN climate talks in Paris this December.
Released during a two-day symposium on Islam and climate change in Istanbul, the declaration lays out why Muslims should be concerned about the planet, and sets out a series of demands to world leaders and the business community.
It is the second major intervention to have emerged from the faith community this year, after Pope Francis released his encyclical on climate change and the environment in June.
Writing the declaration
The process of drafting the declaration began around six months ago. A team of five Islamic scholars were involved in crafting the initial document.
These were Ibrahim Ozdemir (professor of philosophy and founding president of Gazikent University), Azizan Baharuddin (a professor at the University of Malaya), Othman Llewellyn (environmental planner at the Saudi Wildlife Authority), Fazlun Khalid (founder of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Science) and Fachruddin Mangunjaya (vice chairman of Center for Islamic Studies at the Universitas Nasional in Jakarta).
Abdelmajid Tribak, head of environmental programmes at ISESCO (the Islamic version of UNESCO), helped to convene environment ministers from around the Muslim world.
Other Muslim scholars were then invited to give their input to the draft, which went through around eight or nine incarnations before it was presented to 60 participants at this week’s symposium, where it was fine-tuned and finalised during a late-night session in Istanbul, says Khalid.
The message
The declaration calls on four separate groups with a series of demands for tackling climate change.
First, it calls on the policy makers responsible for crafting the UN’s climate change agreement this December to come to “an equitable and binding conclusion”. Specifically, the deal should set clear targets and establish ways to monitor them, says the declaration.
It calls on well-off nations and oil-producing states to phase out their emissions no later than the middle of the century, turn away from “unethical profit from the environment” and invest in a green economy.
It calls on people and leaders from all nations to commit to 100% renewable energy and a zero emissions strategy as soon as possible, and to recognise that unlimited economic growth is not a viable option. It adds that adaptation should also be prioritised, particularly for the most vulnerable groups.
And finally it calls on the business sector, which it says should take a more active role to reduce their carbon footprint, also commit to 100% renewables and zero emissions, shift investments into renewable energy, adopt more sustainable business models and assist in the divestment from fossil fuels.
It finally issues a call to “all Muslims wherever they may be” – including the media, education, mosques and UN delegations.
Religion
The messages of the declaration are supported with quotes from the Qur’an. Care for the creation is a fundamental part of the Islamic message, it states, and humans are currently responsible for squandering gifts bestowed by Allah. It says:
“Our species, though selected to be a caretaker or steward (khalifah) on the earth, has been the cause of such corruption and devastation on it that we are in danger ending life as we know it on our planet. This current rate of climate change cannot be sustained, and the earth’s fine equilibrium (mīzān) may soon be lost.”
Around 750 verses – one eighth of the book – reflect on natural phenomena, suggesting that the environment is central to Islamic thought. Furthermore, the declaration points to the example of the Prophet Muhammad, whom it says banned the felling of trees in the desert and established protected areas for the conservation of plants and wildlife.
Influence
Unlike the papal encyclical, the declaration does not have a formal standing within Islam, as there is no single clerical authority in the religion.
Instead, its standing depends on the standing of those who wrote and endorsed the document. The drafting committee is the “cream of the Islamic environmental movement”, Fazlun Khalid tells Carbon Brief. Four of the scholars were involved in the 1998 Harvard conference that spawned the book Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust, which delves into Muslim thinking on the environment.
The hope is that imams and clerics around the world can incorporate it into their services, reaching out to the 1.6 billion Muslim population around the world. Saleemul Huq, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development, who also participated in the conference, tells Carbon Brief:
“Even if we reach a fraction of them, that’s a significant number. In Islam, as a Muslim, I am supposed to interpret the Qur’an and behave according to its tenets myself – I don’t need a Pope to tell me what to do. And we hope this will open the eyes of Muslim individuals all over the world.
“Hopefully some of the leaders of Muslim countries will also bear this in mind and it will affect their policies with regards to fossil fuel investments and dependence.”
Many Islamic countries, such as in Bangladesh and across the north of Africa, are extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts. Others, such as Saudi Arabia, have economies that rely heavily on the production of fossil fuels, and have been accused of wielding a disruptive influence at the UN climate negotiations. Could the declaration have any impact on these leaders? Khalid tells Carbon Brief:
“We can only hope, and there is a lot of work to be done there. It has to be handled quite sensitively. Countries like Saudi Arabia don’t have a fall back position. We need to set in train a series of discussions of how they could cope with what we are proposing, so it’s not that easy.”
Conclusion
Like the Pope’s message to the Catholic Church, the Islamic Declaration keeps the world’s poorest at the heart of its message. Cardinal Peter Turkson, who drafted the first version of the encyclical, welcomed the intervention. He said:
“It is with great joy and in a spirit of solidarity that I express to you the promise of the Catholic Church to pray for the success of your initiative and her desire to work with you in the future to care for our common home and thus to glorify the God who created us.”
Christiana Figueres, head of the UN’s climate body, also welcomed the declaration. She said:
“A clean energy, sustainable future for everyone ultimately rests on a fundamental shift in the understanding of how we value the environment and each other. Islam’s teachings, which emphasize the duty of humans as stewards of the Earth and the teacher’s role as an appointed guide to correct behavior, provide guidance to take the right action on climate change.”
The Islamic world now has three months to digest the declaration, before all nations come together in Paris in December to reach a global agreement on climate change.
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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Bismillahir rahmanir raheem
‘INAA JA’ALNAA FE A’NAAQIHIM AGHLAALAN FA- HIYA ‘ILAA AL- ADHQAANI FAHUM MUQMAHOON
We have put yokes round their necks right up to their chins so that their heads are forced up (and they cannot see) [Qur’an 36:8]
When we do not accept the guidance of Allah (swt) which is given with compassion and mercy what happens to us? We lost and that unguided wandering is like a shackle around our necks ever burdening us and making our necks stiff. What is the image of a stiff necked person. That person is terribly hobbled. Unable to look around and see all the wonderful possibilities. In terms of the spirit, it too is hardened by this, the heart is made harder and harder and further from Allah (swt) And remember these shackles are of our own making when we refuse to believe when we refuse to follow this guidance of Allah (swt)
WA- JA’ALNAA MIN BAYNA AYDEHIM SADDAN WA- MIN KHALFIHIM SADDAN FA- AGHSHAYNAAHUM FAHUM LAA YUBSIROON
And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them and further We have enshrouded them in veils; so that they cannot see [Qur’an 36:9]
And this leads us, our heart and spirit further into a kind of spiritual stagnation. We are unable to go back and unable to go forward. All guidance becomes lost to us and it is as if we are blinded by the veils of dark and light that we have earned by our unbelief.
WA- SAWAA’ ‘ALAYHIM ANDHARTAHUM ‘AM LAM TUNDHIRHUM LAA YU’MINOON
The same is it to them whether thou admonish them or thou do not admonish them: they will not believe. [Qur’an 36:10]
And when this ultimate state of spiritual impoverishments comes. When the unguided and disconnected cannot advance or retreat and when all light and guidance is seemingly cut off, what then? They are deaf and blind to guidance, where can they go from here? What difference does it make if we advise them or not? They do not listen and seemingly cannot alter their state.
‘INNAMAA TUNDHIR MAN ITTABA’A ADHDHIKR WA- KHASHIYA AR- RAH.MAAN BI- AL- GHAYB FA- BASHSHIRHU BI- MAGHFIRAH WA- ‘AJR KAREM
You can only admonish: those who follow the reminders and fear the Most Gracious unseen: give them therefore good tidings of Forgiveness and a Reward most generous [Qur’an 36:11]
As for those who are concerned, who have purposely or in ignorance delivered themselves to evil, The preaching of Allah’s(swt) message has no appeal because their own will, their own nafs shuts their hearts out. But there are others who are anxious to hear Allah’s(swt) message and receive Allah’s(swt) grace. They love Allah(swt) and fear to offend against his holy message and their fear is not merely superficial but deep seated for while they do not yet see Allah(swt) nor do other people see them they have the same sense of Allah’s(swt) presence in their life and heart as if they saw him. Their religion is not a mere pose to be seen by men. To such persons the message of Allah(swt) comes as good news because it shows them the way of forgiveness for anything wrong in their past and it gives them the promise of a full reward in the future arising out of Allah’s(swt) unbounded bounty.
‘INNA NAH.NU, NUHYE AL- MAWTAA WA- NAKTUB MAA QADDAMO WA- ‘AATHAARHUM WA- KULL SHAY’AH.SAYNAAHU FE ‘IMAAM MUBEN
Indeed! It is we who bring the dead t life and We record that which they sent before and that which they leave behind and of all things have We have made a clear accounting
Clearly what we do here in this life is recorded and kept as a record to be read back to us at the time of our resurrection. Allah (swt) knows all in our hearts and in our souls. Is this not a clear message for us? For those who believe and have Taqwa for Allah (swt) it is a message of hope and mercy and kindness because our obedience is rewarded many times while our disobedience is recorded only once.
Narrated Anas ibn Malik
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said, “Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Qur’an is Ya-Sin. Allah will record anyone who recites Ya-Sin as having recited the Qur’an ten times.”
Narrated AbuHurayrah
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said, “A thousand years before creating the heavens and the Earth, Allah recited Ta-Ha and Ya-Sin, and when the angels heard the recitation they said, ‘Happy are the people to whom this comes down, happy are the minds which carry this, and happy are the tongues which utter this.”
Narrated Ata’ ibn AbuRabah
Ata’ has been told that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said, “If anyone recites Ya-Sin at the beginning of the day, his wants will be supplied.”
What do these ahadith point to? How we follow the guidance of allah (swt) affects us just as much in this life right here right now.
In our hearts, if we read Ya Sin it is equal to reading the whole Qur’an ten times. If we look in our own hearts and find love and obedience to Allah (swt) it is like finding and obeying him with our whole bodies ten times. This is the opposite of having a chain around our neck! It is that we are open to Allah (swt) and open to his guidance and compassion and mercy.
And rasul allah (saw) tells us that we and our minds and our tongues will be happy when we utter this just as Allah (swt) recited it to the angels long before we were here on earth.
And our recitation of it causes our wants to be supplied. What else could possibly happen, when our hearts are open to Allah (swt) we know we are receiving clear guidance, our whole body rejoices and our tongues are happy. In this state how could we ever NOT receive what we need from Allah (swt) even to knowing that the record that will be read about us on that final day will show that we had Taqwa for Allah (swt) and that we loved rasul allah (saw) and followed his example.
Oh Allah, Let us rejoice in knowing this clear guidance, this light in our lives, let us not be among those whose necks and hearts are hardened and stiffened up and who know You not and are not in Your grace and mercy. Let us be among those that understand and know and believe, even when You are hidden from us. And let us be among those that worship for Your sake and not for the sake of being seen in our religion.
For all this we pray, ameen.
Wa allahu alim – and God knows best.
Ihsan Center - Islam From The Heart 