Accreditations

Mufti Hafiz Sayed Irfan Shah Muhadith Musharafi, considered to be one of the highest celebrated traditional scholar, direct descendent of the Prophet, peace be upon him, chaired and spoke about the Nasiha Citizenship Course in the presence of Imams and teachers from 39 religious institutions in Bradford and Keighley:

‘After praise to Allah and His Prophet , peace be upon him:

‘’Honoured Imams and Teachers with specific mention of Shaykh Sahibzada Tangri Shareef, Syed Maroof Hussain Shah Sahib, Council for Mosques representatives, Mosques and Madrassahs in Bradford – the Nasiha Citizenship course has been presented in English and has already received many praises . I would like to highlight that Nasiha is a course based upon Quran and Hadith and its message is no different to the message brought by all the Prophets. Our Prophet, peace be upon him, was sent for four reasons: to recite Quran, to purify those who receive the message, and to make people understand the Book and Divine Wisdom. These three purposes of Prophethood have been mentioned in one verse. The fourth reason, was to celebrate the finality of the revelation, the Quran, affirming what was revealed before (the Sacred Scriptures, the Torah and the Gospel), and re-establishing the monotheistic principle of believing in one God, (the Abrahamic tradition).’

‘The Prophet , peace be upon him, also said that I have only been sent to perfect good character. It means all the four aspects of prophethood mentioned above is completely intertwined in this tradition: ´refining one’s character according to the Prophet, peace be upon him.´ This is the message of Nasiha Citizenship Curriculum. It is nothing new and has been presented in many forms in the past. The well known book Karimia written by Shaykh Saadi is studied by all Islamic scholars in the subcontinent and the teachings in it are very close to the Nasiha Citizenship course. The message is simple: ´to know and practice how to benefit humanity.’

‘The difference, however, is that the course has been presented in English. The use of different languages (other than Arabic) to present Islam in its true form was done by Maulana Rumi and Fariuddin Attar in the past. Why is it needed? First it has now become paramount to dispel the misconception that Islam is a religion that terrorises others . The unfortunate events in the UK in the past which have caused harm to many families were justified wrongly by the perpetrators and their misinterpretation of Islamic sources is a warning to all.’

‘Secondly, there is a dire need now for our younger generation to understand the Islamic teachings in its true form and how their Islam can beneficially help them to become good citizens.’

‘Islam is a religion based upon harmony and actively roots out injustices, whether this is carried out by a Muslim or a non-Muslim. To struggle (jihad) to prevent harm in society resulting through injustice or selfish behaviour is a duty for all human beings. Working with other communities of different faiths or no faith in order to achieve this is characterised by the Prophet’s , peace be upon him, actions (sunnah) during his lifetime.’

‘At the time of Badr , many prisoners of wars were captured but the Prophet, peace be upon him, said if Mutim ibn Adi came he would release all the prisoners of war without ransom. Who was Mutim ibn Adii. He was not a Muslim but he was a fair and just person. When the Prophet’s, peace be upon him, family was exiled and sanctions were place upon them causing them to painfully go through a period of starvation , it was Mutim ibn Adii who stood against the sanction and said it was unjust. Secondly, when the Prophet, peace be upon him, was returning from Taif where stones were thrown at him and he was wounded as a result, Mutim ibn Adii nursed him and gave him protection before he returned to Makkah. What do these traditions teach us? Some people say we should have no link with other faith communities or even with our Government in our Islamic orientation – this is wrong. The Prophet, peace be upon him, held Mutim bin Adii in very high regard despite him not being a Muslim and recognised his qualities of uprightness and justice.´

´Furthermore, When Urwa bin Masud and Mughira bin Shuba became Muslims, the Prophet , peace be upon him, asked them to return their looted goods back to the non-Muslim community – this was to establish an important principle that Islam was ‘to preserve the rights of humanity’, irrespective of the faith/no faith of a person.´

´Living in Britain, means we need to have a healthy relationship with all communities, participate in representing our positions in democracy in government and aim to contribute wholeheartedly to engineer a prosperous society free from harm and injustices. I feel the Nasiha Citizenship course highlights the Islamic teachings (accepted by all traditions) instrumental in achieving this outcome and though its primarily designed for the age group of 12yrs -18yrs, I think the basic message of being a good human being in society and being active in the community to help others can certainly be appreciated by everyone. Imams and teachers present here should familiarise themselves with the materials, and if I can benefit from the teaching materials I certainly feel others can too.´

Other comments from Imams will be added shortly.