Ref: AF/PR/49/2018
In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
He is the only Lord, the King, the Holy, the Peace, the Forgiver, the Watchful Guardian, the Majestic, the Dominant, and the Exalted. God is too exalted to have any partner.(Holy Qur’an, Surah Al Hashr 59:23)
“Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik, Labbaika La Shareeka Laka Labbaik, Innal Hamdah, Wan Nematah, Laka wal Mulk, La Shareeka Laka”
(“Here I am, O Allah (in response to Your call), here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Verily all praise, grace and all sovereignty are Yours, You have no partner”)
We are blessed to once again witness the Hajj season where the fortunate ones have travelled to Madinah and Makkah responding to the call of Allah (SWT), The Almighty, The Majestic, The Supreme … in fulfilling their obligation of Hajj.
Hajj is the symbol of unity and universality, it is the most evident and effective lesson of equality and brotherhood to mankind, self-sacrifice and it is the pillar of unity in one belief and faith in One God.
“O people, surely your Lord is One, the father of all of you is one, you all come from Adam and Adam from the earth. (Surely the most honourable of you with Allah is the one among you most careful of his duty) Arab has no advantage over non-Arab except for piety (Taqwa).” – The Holy Prophet (SAWW)
The Day of Arafah is one of the most blessed days provides us an opportunity to purify our intentions and transform our actions into worship making confession of our sins, defects, ignorance, mistakes and seek for mercy and forgiveness from Allah (SWT).
The following day unifies us in our renewed faith with joyous celebration of Eid al-Adha (The Festival of Sacrifice).
This obligatory act serves as a lesson to mankind to preserve unity amongst families, communities and the society at large and treat all humans as equal without discrimination on basis of colour, race, caste, wealth or might. Hajj is where all Pilgrims enter into a state of spiritual known as “ihram” that is aimed at shedding symbols of pride, materialism, giving up worldly pleasures and focussing on the inner self over outward appearance.
Hajj is the pinnacle of the concept of sacrifice when Prophet Ibrahim (AS) was ready to sacrifice his son Ismail (AS) for the sake of Allah (SWT), and we in our daily lives and especially in this season of Hajj should give whatever we can for the sake of others, even a little of our wealth, services towards our community and humanity.
Taking inspiration from the above, I call upon our community members to give obligatory and voluntary Charity (Sadaqah, Zakat, donation) and Hukook centrally through the Africa Federation Secretariat, these contributions will help the Federation to support the needy and deserving members of our community in the Jamaats under the Africa Federation in several areas of their needs, i.e. Education, Tabligh, Medical etc.
Let us pray for the pilgrims’ successful completion of the Hajj rituals and the Ziyarat of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWW), his household and the faithful followers of Ahlulbayt (AS) in Makkah al-Mukarramah and Madinah al-Munawarah. We pray for the safe return of all pilgrims to their destinations in different parts of the world – Ameen.
On behalf of the Africa Federation Office Bearers, Trustees and Councilors, and on my own behalf, I wish all our community members a blessed Eid al-Adha – “Eid Mubarak”.
May I request you all to pray for peace, safety and wellbeing of Muslim Ummah in all parts of the world and let us remember all our Marhumeen with a Sura-e-Fateha.
Shabir Najafi
Chairman