Muslim cleric prays for country of peace without fear

BEFORE a congregation which included the Prime Minister, Muslim cleric Maulana Atif Majeed Sulamini prayed for Allah to bless Trinidad and Tobago with peace and an absence of fear and dread.

With a solution to crime high on Government's agenda, he also called on Allah for security, guidance and protection from the criminals, “who are trying to take away the peace of this beautiful land of TT – one of the most beautiful lands on the face of this earth.”

Maulana Sulamani, who is originally from Pakistan, said he loves this country but the criminal element is hurting it with their evil and heinous crimes

“Bless this nation with peace, with days and nights where we can sleep peacefully, where we have no fear that somebody could come any time and put a gun to our heads and take our lives and take our possessions,” he said in his Eid-ul-Fitr sermon at the San Fernando Jama Masjid on the morning of April 22.

Dr Rowley, who chaired a two-day Caricom crime symposium in Port of Spain last week, seeking solutions to the regional problem, and Energy Minister Stuart Young were guests of Agriculture Minister Haji Kazim Hosein and Mucurapo Street, San Fernando Mosque, where Hosein worships.

Muslim devotees turned out in large numbers for the first time since the pandemic de-escalated.

Sulamani said a killer not only murders his victim, but leaves an entire family the victim provided food, drink and shelter for , in mourning, unable to eat or sleep.

In Islam, he explained, taking a life equates to killing mankind, while saving one life is comparable to saving all of humanity.

Nevertheless, he said, no matter how dark the sin and heinous the crimes which block the light from entering the heart, one can get on the right path with sincere repentance. He called on criminals to move away from evil ways, repent, turn to God and seek forgiveness.

He placed responsibility in the laps of parents to guide and educate their children to ensure they follow the right path.

“From the beginning, from a very young age, if they are going in wrong activities, if they are attending wrong circles, stop them.

“Don’t say they are going there to lime, but the same friends will grow them up with a criminal mindset.”

Observing that only a few are hurting the country, he drew a parallel to the negative association of the practice of Islam with crime.

“That is a wrong narrative being set by the media and everyone is being brainwashed by, 'Islam do this,' and, 'Islam do that,' and being responsible for the bomb blast….

“If one group is doing something like that, it does not mean the entire Muslim community is doing something like that. No. It is just a few people.

“Those taking the lives of innocent people in the name of Islam, in the name of the Quran, in the name of Allah, in the name of the Prophet, they have nothing to do with Islam.

“Islam is a religion of tolerance. Islam is a religion of peace. Islam is a religion of kindness. It is our responsibility to share and teach that peace, to make it easy to forgive.”

Young concurred that Islam was about peace and harmony, recalling his youth growing up surrounded by cousins of the Muslim faith, some of whom were at the mosque last Saturday.

He added that the Maulana’s message about forgiveness, starting among families, resonated with him.

Hosein said he was hopeful for the future of this country. He urged all Muslims to continue to live what they would have learnt in the last 30 days during Ramadan.

“We have learnt to be patient, to be understanding, no back-biting, no lies. To be honest. What is plaguing this country and our families, in my view, is jealousy.”