alhamdulillah all praise is due to Allah
and may Allah's peace and blessings be
on the last messenger of
Allah
Islam is the
solution in spite of the
fact that
the
world would have us
believe through the media and through
distorted
presentations that Islam is the
problem the fact of the matter is that
it is the
solution and I can say that with
confidence
though I live and we all live in a time
of
turmoil a time
where in most parts of the
world where there are
conflicts where there
are
Wars Muslims seem to
be at the center of it
that is a reality none of us can
deny
however in spite of that
fact history teaches us something
else and if we are to understand the
present
situation it is essential that we
understand history
because
we are a product of
History Islam
Today is no different from
Islam which was brought
1,400 Years
Ago by the last of the prophets of Allah
Muhammad Sall Al
wasam it is the same Islam
however the circumstances were
different and we can see in the history
of the
prophet in his
biography that as a prophet his life
went through
phases there were times when he was
involved in
conflict and because of that some would
say that is a Waring
Prophet one who was
fighting lives were taken around
him what kind of a prophet could that
possibly
be where is the
Peace
however if one takes that incident a
battle out of his whole life yes you can
come to that kind of a
conclusion however when the battle is
looked in the context of his life where
the
final and
most serious of the
battles was the retaking of
Mecca where Muslims entered into Mecca
without taking any
lives and having
defeated the forces that were opposed to
him he gave the people who opposed him
tooth and nail who took the lives of his
disciples and his companions took the
lives of Muslims simply because they
believed that there was only one God
worthy of
worship
Allah he set them
free when they expected possibly the
worst when conquerors come in finally
they take
revenge and take the lives of the
inhabitants of the
Cities
instead he set them free he said you are
free to
go free to
choose free to believe and as you
please that is the
reality when the second Calif of Islam
Omar entered
Jerusalem entered Jerusalem after a
struggle with its
inhabitants what did he
do he followed that
example leaving the inhabitants free to
worship as they
wished
Islam
Christianity Judaism
existed in
Jerusalem which today is the center of
some of the biggest conflicts going on
in the world today it remained that way
under Muslim
rule a peaceful
coexistence and Muslims entered
Spain with the invitation of the
Spaniards and when they took over Spain
what did they
do did they impose their religion on the
Spanish yard s did
they execute them in on mass no they
were free to practice their religion and
again Jews who were driven out of Europe
from all parts of Europe they were
driven into Spain they found refuge in
Spain amongst the
Muslims Mayon
days one of their greatest Scholars
greatest Jewish
Scholars who wrote their
liturgy who wrote the hymns that they
sing they use in their
worship he wrote in
Arabic in
Spain for the Jews of Spain and the
world peaceful
coexistence is
exemplified in Spain people need to
study the history of
Spain and when salahudin
entered
Jerusalem entered
Palestine after the crusaders had come
and taken
it ruled it with an iron fist for a 100
years during that 100 years though the
majority of the population were Muslims
no aan Was Heard from any minet
[Music]
in Palestine for a 100
years that was not peaceful
coexistence that was
oppression yet when
salahudin
took Jerusalem took Palestine what did
he do tit forat an eye for an eye no he
followed the example of prophet Muhammad
s. wasam and let the people free to
worship and again Christians Jews and
Muslims worshiped
together not in the same places of
worship but in their own places living
together and
worshiping
peacefully that is the
history that is the
history and I could give many more
examples but time is
short it is enough to show through
history that Islam has been the solution
it has been a religion of peace and the
religion which the majority of Muslims
hold and believe in today is the same
religion the issue is
only their ability to implement
it the power is no longer in their
hands from the period of
colonization another Force came into the
world colonization with an iron
fist where religions were
suppressed as is recorded in London in
the London Museum there is a diary
there written by a Muslim who was a
slave in Jamaica where I was
born he wrote
Life on in slavery under the colonial
rule under the British he had to hide
his Islam pray in secret so he couldn't
be
seen he was forced to eat pork
which was forbidden is forbidden for
Muslims and he wrote
out the whole Quran from his
memory and that is also preserved in the
British
museum that was a
different set of times that was not
peaceful
coexistence so the current
situation is a product
of colonization of the Muslim
world where Muslims have had to fight to
throw off the shackles of
colonization to regain their
freedom and their lands remain in the
hands of others taken away and given
arbitrarily to others
so they
fight they fight for the
right to determine their own lives
self-determination is a right enshrined
in the
UN which All Nations subscribe
to so when we look at the conflicts
today it is best for us to look at the
roots of the conflicts what has created
them what has caused
them the solution lies in correcting
what is at the roots not in merely
saying don't be
terrorists don't blow yourselves up well
we agree we shouldn't
be we shouldn't blow ourselves
up but what has driven us to that
state
where among us there are those who feel
it is better to strap bombs around
oneself and explode them than to
continue living in the ex current
situation that reach that state of
desperation as they say desperate people
do desperate
things so peace will
come when
these situations are corrected
but the message of Peace in spite of
this problem remains in the teachings of
Islam and that is what we need to look
to and much of that is what myself and
the other speakers this evening will be
addressing looking at what Islam has to
offer because we're not here fighting
any
battles on the front
lines we're
here where
Muslims in India do have this
opportunity elsewhere they
don't alhamdulillah Muslims in India do
have the opportunity to spread this
message to share this
message to share with their fellow human
beings in this
country the message the true Message of
Islam which without a doubt is a message
of
peace and I hope that all of you would
attend the various
talks in order to benefit from all that
we have to share with
you not just non-muslims but Muslims
because there is much that the Muslim
umah the Muslim Nation common Muslims
need to learn about their
religion the ignorance which is spread
amongst them can only be removed by
knowledge and this conference the peace
conference is a step in the right
direction it is a good effort which we
hope that God will
bless and we hope that you all would
benefit from as we benefit in sharing it
with youum
[Applause]