In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the most Merciful.
“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may learn piety and righteousness (attain taqwaa)” –
(Holy Qur’an, Surah Al Baqarah 2:183)
The holy month of Ramadhan is only few days away, I extend to all our Community members my warmest greetings of the holy month of Ramadhan, and I pray that it brings you and your families wellness, happiness, blessings and peace – Ameen.
The holy month brings with it divine blessings and opportunity to reflect, reform and provides with virtuous inspiration to transcend ourselves and become God-conscious, and renew our closeness to Allah (s.w.t.) by following His commands as ordained in the holy Qur’an and from the teachings of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) and the Ahlulbayt (a.s.).
The holy month of Ramadhan is also an opportunity for us to cultivate benevolence, caring and sharing towards the needy and poor who are struggling for basic necessities like food, drink, clothing and shelter. To this, Allah (s.w.t.) reminds us to “…be virtuous, indeed Allah (s.w.t.) loves the virtuous.” So let us reap the benefits of this holy month by strengthening our relationship with Allah (s.w.t.) and serving our fellow human beings through Charity – Zakat, Sadaqah and other means of assistance. I wish to emphasize that we take care of our own community first.
My humble appeal to you all to support and contribute generously towards the Africa Federation Annual Solidarity Day Fund; your contributions will help us to provide assistance through our constituent Jamaats to the less fortunate and deserving families for their life’s most basic needs, i.e. Education, Medical, Shelter and other Essential Household requirements.
At this moment, let us also reflect on the tragic plight of the sufferings of the Muslim Ummah in several parts of the world, in particular Syria and Yemen where violent conflicts and devastation which started in 2011 in Syria and in 2015 in Yemen still continues. The conflicts has left about half a million dead and injured in these two Muslim countries experiencing the world’s worst man-made humanitarian disaster with over 5 million people including children remain displaced from their homes, facing hunger, malnutrition and disease.
Let us pray to Allah (s.w.t.) to bestow peace, security and tranquility in all parts of the world and an end to the persecutions and sufferings of innocent people from the horrible atrocities.
There is nothing more important than Unity within and outside our community, once again I urge our entire member Jamaats and Institutions to promote good understanding, build bridges of relationships and cooperation with other communities, faiths and sects. As we go forward, the holy month of Ramadhan provides us with unique opportunities to organize inter and intra faith programs with people from different faiths and sects in the places we live.
The extremists’ and terrorists’ attacks in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019 killing 50 people and injuring dozens are despicable and heinous acts of violence to humanity. Similarly, the gruesome suicide bombings of the churches and hotels in Sri Lanka during the Easter Sunday killing over 250 people and injuring hundreds demonstrate again the evils of extremists’ perpetrators. We strongly denounce these horrific killings of innocent worshipers and peace loving people in both these countries. We are utterly saddened with these tragic incidences, our hearts and prayers go to the families of the deceased victims and we pray for quick and full recovery of all those injured in the blasts.
Several provinces in Iran have been severely affected by flash floods caused by heavy rains starting from mid-March to April 2019 resulting in major landslides and flooding of several cities in Iran. About 70 people are reported to have died and hundreds injured and displaced. Most severely affected are Golestan, Mazandaran, Fars, Khuzestan, Lorestan and other provinces. The floods have caused major damage to the infrastructure and to the agricultural industry in several provinces of Iran. According to Red Crescent, two million people are in need of humanitarian aid due to devastating floods. Our deepest sympathies go to the bereaved families and the victims of the intense floods in Iran, we pray to Allah’s (SWT) for His mercy and for the safety of the people of Iran.
Mozambique has been hit recently by two tropical cyclones, Idai and Kenneth in a span of just 6 weeks. The heavy rain and storm in the northern Mozambique has resulted in major damage to the houses and infrastructure, causing deaths and displacing hundreds of people now in need of help – shelter, medical and food.
The World Federation and Africa Federation have jointly sent Aid through our KSI Jamaats in Nampula and Maputo to help the families who are affected by the devastating floods. We pray to Allah (SWT) to help the people of Mozambique from these disasters, we send our heartfelt condolences to all the bereaved families with our prayers to the victims and those affected from the aftermath of the two tropical cyclones in Mozambique and in the neighboring countries, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Southern Tanzania.
I conclude my message with a beautiful saying our holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w.), as repeated below:-
“Ramadan is the month whose beginning is mercy, whose middle is forgiveness and whose end is freedom from fire.”
Holy Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w.w.)
May Allah (s.w.t.) accept all our supplications and forgive all our shortcomings and misdeeds and finally, I request you to remember all Marhumeen for their maghferat – Please recite Sura-e-Fateha.
SECRETARIAT