Friday Sermon: The Prophet and The Community of Trust

Editor

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

One day, our Prophet (pbuh) called out to people of Macca from Mount Safa near the Ka’ba. “Would you believe me if I tell you that there is an army waiting to attack you behind this valley?” The Meccans responded all together, “Yes, we would, since you are a trustworthy person. We have never heard you tell a lie. You are the model of honesty and righteousness.” Upon this, the Messenger of Allah said, “I am warning you of a painful torment.” And in the presence of the Meccans, he invited all humanity to have faith in Allah. He invited them to find pardon (aman) in faith (imaan), to be safe from all kinds of fear and worries.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters!

We have started the week of the holy birth, which is the common era anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) honoring the world. It is a week that The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs has initiated and celebrated since 1989 with the motto “to understand the honorable Prophet by remembering him”. It is a cultural and scholarly activity that helps the love for the Messenger in the believers' hearts increase and the beauties he offered the humanity be better acknowledged. This week is not an alternative to the Mawlid night that we celebrate according to the Islamic calendar.

Dear Believers!

Our Lord Almighty states in the Quran, “Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it.” (33/72)

The greatest blessing Allah bestowed on us after imaan is aman, the security. Our Lord entrusted the universe to humanity and commanded us to establish a secure world. He wants us to construct a world where the neighbor trusts the other neighbor; the employee trusts the employer... How sad it is that today, because the humanity cannot observe this trust properly, we are going through a crisis of trust on a global scale.

The events that devastate individual and social relationships occur successively. Day by day, human-human relationships as well as human-nature relationships are deteriorating. And day by day, our world is becoming more and more insecure.    

Brothers and sisters!

Just by looking around ourselves, we see an atmosphere of chaos, distrust and fear. To meet the need of security, extraordinary security measures are taken, making use of all the means of technology. This security crisis has reached such an extent that the safety and the future of the Earth, the home of all humanity, is in great danger. Because of the everlasting greed and cupidity of humans, the equilibrium and harmony of the universe have started to derange. I regret to say that the Muslim community could not save themselves from such problems. Cities of Islam historically known as “the land of peace and security” are now being destroyed by lawless wars that recognize no principles or morality.

Brothers and Sisters!

It is for this reason that the theme of the Holy Birth Week 2017 has been chosen by the Directorate of Religious Affairs as “The Prophet and the Community of Trust”. With the activities organized, we are hoping to evoke consciousness and awareness in the hearts of the believers to regain the title of the community of trust and become the trustworthy (al-amin) ummah of the trustworthy (al-amin) Prophet (pbuh). It is hoped to contribute to construct a safe, peaceful and livable world.

Esteemed brothers and sisters!

The common goal of all prophets is to proclaim the faith of tawheed (oneness of God) to humanity; to place faith in the hearts; through faith, to unite hearts, minds, bodies, cities and countries with safety; to provide people with a peaceful society where the lives, beliefs, families, properties and dignities are secured. The Prophet, who is sent as a mercy to the worlds, spent his life in struggle for this goal. He established a firm line between imaan and aman (faith and security), and the believer and being trustworthy. He defined a Muslim as “the one from whose tongue and hand the people are safe.”   

Brothers and sisters!

Today, as the ummah of the trusted Prophet (pbuh), our share is to become trusted believers. When we become trustworthy, it is then that the aman, the protection of Allah will be with us. It is Him who protects us from all sorts of fear, sorrow, worries and grief. When we become trusted believers, it is then that we can expect trust and safety from our environment. It is then that our houses, offices, neighborhoods, cities, countries and the world will be safe, because the safe world can be constructed by trustworthy people, amin believers. We must remember that the religion is trust. The believer is the one who is trusted. Humanity is entrusted to the human.

Brothers and sisters!

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the week of the holy birth and pray to our Lord Almighty that this week be a means of goodness for our country, nation, brothers and sisters of faith, and for the entire humanity.