4 LESSONS TO LEARN FROM CHRISTCHURCH – Thurrock Muslims
Asalamu alaykum
May Allah bring peace to you all.
One week ago, a tragic event unfolded in Christchurch, New Zealand. There occured a gruesome and ruthless attack and murder of 50 worshippers at two Mosques in New Zealand, at the hands of a hater whose name is not worth mentioning. That day, the killer, a 28-year-old militant, far-right, supremacist, extremist, terrorist, did not hesitate to bare arms against a peaceful congregation of Muslims gathered for the weekly Friday Prayers, at their local Mosque. To add insult to injury, the strategic terrorist broadcast his calculated and callous crime to the world without any guilt, shame or fear of consequences.
It was a day a great grief, not just for the families of those who were killed and injured, but for the rest of us who too worship Allah alone, the entire Muslim community around the world. We lost a limb. And it wasn’t the first.
The final prophet of Allah, Muhammad (peace be upon him) is reported to have said:
The similitude of believers in regard to mutual love, affection, fellow-feeling is that of one body; when any limb of it aches, the whole body aches, because of sleeplessness and fever. (Sahih Muslim)
What happened in Christchurch on March 15 2019, was a wakeup call.
This, and many other past and on-going atrocities around the world where innocent lives are being lost by ill-intending criminals, must be shunned by all. And indeed, any human being with an ounce of mercy would agree.
At present, it almost feels like the Makkan period all over… When the early Muslims of Arabia at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were persecuted on account of believing ‘laa ilaha illAllah, MuhammadurRasoolullah’. (There is no true god worthy of worship except Allah alone (whom has no associates), and Muhammad is the final prophet of Allah).
This is the peaceful, pure message which every prophet (peace be upon them) preached, ‘la ilaha illAllah’ (There is no true god worthy of worship except Allah alone ).
It is a wise message which makes sense, the message that everyone is inherently inclined to, the message our forefather Adam (peace be upon him) proclaimed and practiced. We are all the children of Adam, ultimately. Why hate each other for no good reason?
For too long, the headlines have been criminalising the broader Muslim community by associating us with the acts of some misguided individuals who claim to be following Islam. This mass criminalisation tricks the lay person into misinterpretting the true message of Islam as apparent in the authentic scriptures. The remedy to this ignorance is for every person to study Islam for themselves, from the authentic texts, The Qur’an and the Sahih Hadith. Please contact us for more, you can get started here : Islam Explained.
We have, will and must condemn anyone who teaches other than what Allah revealed and what the Last prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught. Murder is murder, never mind who the perpetrator is. Islam teaches that murder is one of the major sins. May Allah protect us from major and minor sins, Ameen.
Of course, most of the world’s Muslim population wouldn’t dream of blowing up anything or anyone, let alone themselves. But the unfortunate truth is, that we still get hated on because the naive, ignorant and lazy folk don’t bother to enquire about the true message of Islam. They don’t want to talk to us to dispel their misconceptions on Islam, they just want to hate!
Well, we won’t be your punching bag, and we’re not sorry. Because that dark Friday noon, the world witnessed that horrific incident. One thing that fuelled it was the lack of willingness to learn what Islam really teaches, the desire for hatred and destruction was dearer to the Christchurch Killer than was his desire for peace and reconciliation.
The killer planned to eradicate New Zealand of Muslims. He killed 50, injured 50 more. But following this, hundreds and thousands arround the world have come to realise Islam is not a religion of terror…it has opened for them their path to seeking the truth. Thank you to all the wonderful people who, out of compassion, contacted us with kind words. May Allah always guide you and us to the right path and bring us all true peace. Ameen
…Peace will prevail and may Allah have mercy on us all. Those worshippers who were murdered came to the Friday prayer and were in peaceful submission to Allah. The detestable killer wanted to snatch their peace away, so he did what he did. But in sha Allah (God willing), in the hereafter, those who were treated unjustly, those killed by the criminals, will taste true peace and justice.
Alhamdulillah Allah has given us a chance thus far to turn back to Him alone, and to submit to Him. Allah gave us everything, Alhamdulillah (All praise and thanks belongs to Allah). We should always be grateful to Allah. Indeed, in today’s Friday sermon in Madinah (The city of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him), the Sheikh reminded us to be grateful to Allah.
The pure, peaceful, beneficial message of Islam will reach people however Allah wills. Allah, The Most Merciful God will gather us all in the hereafter, and no one will be dealt with unjustly. We will reap what we sowed in this world. Let’s plant seeds of peace, mercy, unity and justice, let us humble ourselves to Allah in sincere submission.
Let’s work on bettering ourselves and the world. The world has enough hate, let’s bring more peace to it, shall we?
Lesson 1- Remember Allah at all times and worship Him alone, because we will certainly return to Him.
Lesson 2- Be grateful to Allah always. Alhamdulillah for everything. We have been blessed with a lot ma sha Allah. Don’t allow fear, persecution and trials to make us forget the blessings of Allah.
Lesson 3- Hatred and terrorism has no religion. Don’t misjudge a faith or group on account of the actions of a few criminals.
Lesson 4– Ignorance is harmful. But ignorance, coupled with extreme hatred, plus a will for destruction proves deadly. We welcome everyone to learn what Islam really teaches at our Islam Explained page
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May Allah forgive our mistakes, in this and beyond, and may Allah grant us guidance, peace, mercy, unity and paradise. May Allah grant peace and safety everywhere. Wasallallahu alaa nabiyina Muhammad Amin.
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