COMMUNITY APPEAL

 

“Do you really think that you will enter Paradise without going through what those who came before you endured? They were afflicted with such adversity and hardship and shaken to the core to the point that the Messenger and those with him cried, ‘Where is the Help of Allah?!’ Ah! But the help of Allah was ever near.” (Al Baqarah 2:214)

 

As we entered the final ten days of Ramadan and some have taken time to observe the retreat of I’tikaaf, the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa would like to appeal to all Muslims to reflect on the challenges humanity is facing, at home and across the world.

 

• At home, the socio-economic conditions challenge our nation where the gulf of inequality remains wide. Covid-19 has exacted a toll on communities and the public health response to the coronavirus pandemic has adversely affected livelihoods. Persistent social ills of crime, many forms of abuse and corruption continue to restrict the potential of our national growth.

 

• For a better part of 75 years, the Palestinian Question remains a sore point with the Zionist Project continued occupation of the sacred precincts of Baitul Maqdas. Torture is an instrument which is routinely used together with sustained humiliation and denial of rights of Palestinians, in the hope of entrenching exclusive sovereignty over the occupied territories. Most recently, restricted access to the Noble Sanctuary has heightened tensions with refreshed fears of violence.

 

• Further afield, with well over 300 000 new daily cases, India is reporting nearly 50% of the global tally of additional Covid-19 infections. Recently, surpassing a grim milestone of 220 000 Covid-19 deaths, the distressful scenes in India have been described as ‘apocalyptic’.

 

Given these scenarios besides other pandemic-hit and conflict zone crises such as in Brazil, Chad, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Syria, the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa is appealing to all Muslims to engage in prayers, seeking the Help of Allah I to take away the pandemic, relieve the pain of loss, end the suffering and anguish of the infected, affected and conflict regions.

 

In these last days of Blessed Ramadan, let us engage in the fruitful acts of virtue such as seeking forgiveness, reading the Noble Qur’an, engaging in supplication, decency in speech and exercising modesty. Ramadan is the time for restraint in lustfulness and anger. The Prophet r was known for his exceeding generosity in Ramadan. Let us spare a thought for, and reach out to all those in need, so that we can share in the Blessings of the Almighty, as a single humanity.

 

Let’s make peace with ourselves and act with passion and faith of anticipation, while remembering the Promise of Allah I… The help of Allah was ever near.

Issued by:

The Executive Committee
Jamiatul Ulama South Africa

 

22 Ramadan 2021 / 5 May 2021