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October 1 2013 09:30 | Conference Hall of Villa Maria

God is Mercy



Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad


Grand Imam of the Lahore Mosque, Pakistan
In the name of Allah the most Merciful and Mighty
 
Respectable and Honorable President of the session and Distinguished Guests!!!
 
Greetings and Blessings from Pakistan.
 
First of all I  on behalf of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Harmony and from the people of Pakistan very thankful to the management and leadership of the Community of St Egidio  and pay gratitude for holding this conference. 
The topic of my discussion is “Allah is Mercy”
 
The day is historic and blessed one that many leaders from different countries and representatives of the world  religions are here with their innovative ideas and thoughts focused on one theme  how to make this world  a better place. This is the sign of the sincere leadership of Community St Egidio. I salute the leadership of the Community of Saint Egidio that they made this arduous task possible for all of us.
 
In accordance with the topic first I will  talk about the blessings of Almighty Allah and  about the teachings of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad(SAW) and that is the foundation of our religion i.e.    
                        
There is no God but Allah and Muhammad(PBUH) is the Messenger of Almighty Allah. 
 
 Distinguished Guests:
My topic is the combination of two words i.e. Allah and Rahmah. But in reality these two words are inseparable. As Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran  
(Verse No54, Sura Al Anaam)
Your Lord has written Rahmah(blessings) on His Self. In another place in the Holy Quran; 
 
(verse no 156, Sura Al Aaraaf)
                               
The whole universe is the reflection of His Blessings. He is the Lord of the lords. He is the Sustainer of all the worlds. He is the Beneficent and Merciful. And if I give you the translation of these few sentences. It goes like this 
 
 
Verse (1,2), Sura Al Fatiha
 
The opening words of prayer of the Muslims. 
And not only this, our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) emphasizes  on all Muslims when  start any work or assignment, utter these words. Your work will be blessed.
 
 
Verse No. 30 Sura Namal
 
In the name of Allah the most Merciful and Mighty.
Respected Guests, Now I come to the greatest gift of our Lord that is “Muhammad (PBUH)” the Messenger of Almighty Allah. He has been declared by the Almighty Allah as 
 
 
Verse No 107. Sura anmbia
 
Blessings for the whole of the universe.
Every philanthropist,  volunteer and Peace builder is reflecting truly the image and essence of His Lord. Revealed Religions and The Prophets approximately 1,24,000, from Adam(AS) to Jesus Christ (AS) and from Jesus Christ (AS) to Muhammad (PBUH), reaveled scriptures and books, Torah, Zaboor, Bible and Quran  are the clear signs of the blessings of Almighty Allah. Almighty Allah is Rahmah and His blessings are countless. If you start counting the blessings of Almighty Allah, you cannot make it possible
 
 
Verse No 34 Sura Ibrahim
 
Our Prophet(SAW) said the people are the family of Almighty of Allah. That person is the most beloved of Allah who loves His family. He further said That one is the best amongst you who is good to other and benefits the people. And each of us is blessed and elevated to the status above angles. When the structure of man was created, the angles were ordered to  prostrate before man. 
 
 
Verse no  34, Sura AlBaqara
 
All the angles obeyed the Commandment except Satan. And from that day he was declared as the cursed  one. In another place Almighty Allah says
 
 
Vesre No 70  Sura Bani Israeel
 
And we elevated the man and blessed him high status
The Mercy of the Lord of the lords can simply be judged from the fact, that the people who believe in Him or not,  feed, sustain and keep them.
The last but not the least, the Mercy of Allah is addressing the people who are disappointed and see no way to their pains and problems being faced. Allah says in the Holy Quran, “ Do not get disappointed from the Mercy and Blessings of Almighty Allah.” As He forgives and loves His servants (human beings) unconditionally. 
 
Respected President!
There are hundreds of verses and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and scriptures of the revealed religions that Allah is Rahmah i.e. God is Mercy. Man being the superior creation of Almighty has been blessed with the potential to do what His Lord wants from him. Then there is a big question for all of us. Why the human beings are faced with these unprecedented challenges? We must understand the root causes and the ground realities in a very systematic and scientific way. 
Today the world has become a global village. The technology has made tremendous development and the hours work is done in seconds, the distances have become shortened, then the question is why we cannot get close to each other. My thesis is very clear; we need to focus on Dialogues instead of other options. To understand each other. Recognize other rights. Value human dignity. Respect human rights.  Why not we work on those fronts to create the environment that help in building the peace in the world.
 
The Islamic Ummah especially Pakistan pay tributes to efforts of Community of St Egidio and understand it necessary to inform this distinguished house regarding two important initiatives. The first one when I visited Rome-Italy and met with Pope in the Vatican City, he appreciated our work in Pakistan and prayed for us and for our peace work. Secondly, when the King of Saudi Arabia Khadim ul Haramainal Shareefain Malik Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz inaugurated the Makkah Interfaith Conference and Madrid Peace Conference; it really helped the Islamic Umah and especially reinforced the Interfaith initiatives in Pakistan. 
 
In the end once again I must say thanks to the community, distinguished panelists and  Prof. Dr. Andre Ricardee. I assure this distinguished house with my full zeal and support  and offer my services voluntarily for the interfaith initiatives wherever this forum consider necessary and vital to be utilized for the noble cause.
Thank you very much.
 

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